Medicare Advantage Plans & Medicare Supplement Plans

Medicare Advantage Plans & Medicare Supplement Plans
Medicare Advantage Plans

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Getting to Know Medigap

Medicare is now currently paying for only about half of all the healthcare costs for Americans aged 65 and over. The other half of the medical expenses would be up to the people to pay out-of-the-pocket. With Medigap, which Congress standardized in 1992 and revised in 2006, people won't have to worry about the payments because this type of insurance will pay for all medical expenses in excess of what an original Medicare plan covers.

Medigap or Medicare supplement insurance can be any of the 12 supplemental insurance policies named a the letters A through L. Each one of the policies extends a different list of benefits targeted at providing additional coverage that is not available in the Medicare insurance plan. Each of these plans is priced appropriately. Medicare supplement Plans K and L are complementary to the basic benefits offered in Plans A to J. Nonetheless, the plans come at a decreased monthly premium but with raised out-of-pocket expenses.

Plan A is the most basic. Plan B offers everything in Plan A, and also covers the deductible for Medicare hospitalization. Plan C covers everything in Plans A and B, as well as the deductible for outpatient care and some healthcare outside the United States. The same thing applies for others up to Plan J, which covers all Medicare deductibles and most costs under preventive care. Plans K and L work a little differently from the others. They cover most gaps in Medicare coverage but pay only a percentage of those costs. They make up for these reduced payments by placing a cap on an insured person's total out-of-pocket expenses. After the cap is reached, these policies pay 100 percent of all covered costs.

Medigap health insurance policies are issued through private insurance companies and are particularly important to low and moderate-income beneficiaries aged 65 and above, especially those living in rural areas. However, it is available for everyone enrolled in traditional Medicare Part A and Part B, which pay for hospitalization, doctor visits, and other outpatient care. It is much cheaper when compared to other health care plans since, unlike usual medical health insurance plans, medical supplement insurance or Medigap is much cheaper.

It is important to always stay ahead of everything, including medical expenses. We'll never know when we might fall ill and we'll also never know how much our hospital bills will be. To be sure you're covered for the entire cost of your treatment, get supplementary medigap insurance to fill that gap between your Medicare plan and your actual hospital bill.


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