Medicare Supplements are also commonly referred to as Medigap insurance plans. These policies help pay for your cost-sharing under Medicare, such as your Part A & B deductibles and co-insurance.
About Medicare Supplements
Medicare supplements were created shortly after our nation’s health insurance program for people over 65 was signed into law back in the 60′s. Because you are required to pay for some things, like the Part A Hospital deductible (currently $1,184!), supplements were created to insure you against paying for those expenses. This allows people to have peace of mind about their healthcare expenses without having to worry how much each medical visit will end up costing them.
Some of the primary advantages of a traditional Medigap policy are:
- Freedom to choose your own doctors and hospitals
- No referrals required to see a specialist
- No out of pocket expenses (with Plan F) for any Medicare-covered services
- Nationwide coverage – you can use it anywhere in the United States
To jump straight to a list of the Medigap plans currently available in the United States - see our Medigap supplement chart. This is chart that is published in the booklet called “Choosing a Medigap,” which is published by CMS, and it details the benefits that included in each policy. This website also contains a detailed explanation of each policy, including some example scenarios of how the coverage would pay if you bought each policy.
If you are new to this and still learning, keep reading below to learn more about supplements and how they work before looking at specific plans or shopping rates. You want to have a good understanding of what your A & B benefits already cover before you decide how much additional coverage feels right for you. There are supplement policies that cover any potential gap in Medicare, and there are others where you agree to do some cost-sharing and in return you get a lower monthly premium on your supplement policy.
Why are Medicare supplements so confusing?
Sometimes too many choices is NOT a good thing.
For many years, Medicare supplements from different insurance carriers were allowed to have different benefits. This made it really difficult for consumers to compare apples to apples. So in 1990, our federal government standardized the plans so that benefits for a Plan F, for example, had to be uniform from one insurance company to the next.
Unfortunately, the problem is that Medicare has Parts and Plans, and since they use letters like A & B in both places, people still get confused.
At Boomer Benefits, we can help you understand exactly what each Medicare supplement plan will cover, and even give you some Medicare basics education if you feel unsure of what your Parts A & B already cover. If you are new to all this, begin reading at the link below, and we’ll walk you through the definitions.
Start here: What is a Medicare Supplement?
