If you are considering purchasing Medicare supplement insurance there are facts you need to know to make an informed decision. There are many advantages to buying this insurance but there are also a lot of popular misconceptions out there that need to be corrected before making a decision. Following is a discussion of these facts in detail.
This type of insurance is also known as Medigap insurance, because it is intended to cover gaps in your primary coverage through Medicare. In order to qualify for a Medigap policy it is usually required that you already have Medicare Parts A and B. Your premium for the new policy will be in addition to what you already pay for Medicare.
Medigap policies cover individuals only. If you purchase a policy for yourself, it will not cover your husband or wife. If you both need this coverage you need to purchase two separate policies.
Policies intended to cover gaps in Medicare coverage all offer standardized sets of benefits. These are grouped into Plans A-L and each plan provides a different level of coverage. No matter which insurance company you buy supplemental insurance from, Plans A-L will be consistent throughout. This means that the benefits from Plan A purchased through one company will be exactly the same as the benefits from Plan A purchased through a different company.
Companies that provide this type of insurance are allowed to set their own prices, so it pays to shop around and compare costs. In addition, each insurance company is not required to sell all of the plans, so you may be steered towards one of the plans they sell. For this reason, you should make sure you have information on each plan before committing to a purchase.
Another thing you may not have realized about the type of insurance known as Medigap is that it does not cover prescription drugs. This is because this type of coverage is already available as part of Medicare Parts A and B. If you do not have insurance coverage for prescriptions, visit the Medicare website and find out how to get it under their plans. Buying supplemental insurance because you think it will cover prescriptions would be a mistake.
Finally, it is illegal to sell any individual duplicate Medicare supplement insurance. Because it is intended to cover gaps in Medicare coverage and all plans across each company that sells it are the same, there is no need for more than one of this type of policy. US regulations have therefore made it illegal for people to try to sell you an unnecessary policy to protect your rights.
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