Traditional Medicare covers a lot of various expenses. For example, with Medicare Part A, enrollees can be covered for various inpatient hospital services, as well as for some amount of care in a skilled nursing facility, home health care, and hospice care. Part B of Medicare offers coverage that can help with paying for doctors’ services and outpatient care, as well as for various preventive services that can help with maintaining health, as well as to help certain illnesses from getting worse.
Unfortunately, not every expense is covered. In fact, there are a lot of bills which fall through the cracks of the coverage. Those uncovered bills could drain your bank account or put a strain on your savings.
Luckily, you can get extra protection to keep the weight of those bills off of your wallet. There are a couple of options, but we think a Medigap is going to be the best choice.
The most important factor when buying a Medicare Supplemental policy is picking a company. The plan you choose is important, but the company you buy it from is vital.
Medigap plans are regulated. Regardless of the company, protection is the same. The prices aren’t the same. The quotes are going to be different. You want to find the best Medigap plan at the most affordable rate.
One company which should be on your list is Heartland National. While you may not have heard of them, they tend to be one of the most popular choices for Medigap protection.
This History Of Heartland National
While Heartland was founded in 1994, the overall Heartland group of financial and insurance providers has a much longer history in the life and health insurance arena.
Founded by Chris McDaniel - an insurance agent who started in the industry at the age of 18 - this Missouri company started with just one individual, and has since grown to having thousands of agents across the South and Midwest.
In addition to the company’s expansion, it has grown throughout the years by acquiring different companies and sales systems - including the acquisition of Successful Sales Systems, a Midwestern brokerage firm that exclusively marketed insurance products for several national companies.
In 2008, Heartland Financial Group formed Heartland Holding Company, which is the parent company for several different entities, including:
- Heartland Financial Group
- Heartland Properties of Missouri
- Heartland National Life Insurance Company
In 2004, Heartland Financial Group surpassed the $10 million mark in senior health insurance sales - and at around that same time, the company became one of the top distributors of long-term care insurance, with more than $7 million in new annualized sales.
Heartland National Company Review
Today, throughout the company’s overall distribution network, its annual sales have surpassed the $20 million mark - which makes this company one of the leading senior life and health insurance distributors in the entire United States.
Heartland National is also planning to roll out some additional product offerings in the future, which include Dental insurance coverage, as well as short-term care. The company is currently headquartered in a 60,000-square foot building that is located in Blue Springs, Missouri, a suburb that is just about 20 miles from downtown Kansas City.
Heartland National Ratings
A.M. Best has given Heartland National an A rating. There are a lot of factors they look when determining a rating. This is also due to the company’s budget-friendly plans, as well as its easy-to-complete applications for insurance coverage.
In addition, even though Heartland National Life Insurance has not received accreditation from the BBB, but they do have an A+ rating. Just like when you were in school, an A+ is the best grade given.
Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans Offered By Heartland National Company
Heartland National Life Insurance Company offers six Medicare Supplement insurance plans. These include Plan A, Plan D, Plan F, Plan G, Plan M, and Plan N. These plans are available for sale in the states where Heartland is licensed, which include AL, AR, AZ, CO, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MO, MS, NE, NV, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT and WY. All of the company’s Medigap plans are guaranteed renewable - which means that as long as the premium is being paid, the plan cannot be canceled by the insurance company.
If you want a basic plan that just offers the core Medicare Supplement insurance coverage offerings, then Plan A may be the best option. That is because Plan A offers the following Medicare Supplement coverages:
- Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- First 3 pints of blood each year
- Medicare Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment
If some additional coverage is desired, Plan D could be a good option:
- Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- First 3 pints of blood each year
- Medicare Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment
- Skilled nursing home facility care coinsurance
- Medicare Part A deductible
- Foreign Travel Exchange benefits - up to the plan’s limits (in this case, it is 80 percent)
If, however, more comprehensive Medigap coverage is needed, Plan F provides coverage for all possible Medicare Supplement coverage, which includes:
- Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- First 3 pints of blood each year
- Medicare Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
- Medicare Part A deductible
- Medicare Part B deductible
- Medicare Supplement Part B excess charges
- Foreign travel exchange - up to the plan’s limits
Also, in order to help a policyholder with keeping his or her premium price lower, you can buy the high-deductible Plan F. With this particular plan, there is an annual deductible of $2,200 (in 2017) that must be met by the policyholder before the plan will begin paying out any of its benefits.
Medicare Supplement Plan G is also considered to be one of the more comprehensive Medigap plans, as this plan offers all of the coverage that is found in Plan F, other than payment for the Medicare Part B deductible.
Plans M and N will also offer the same protections as Medigap Plan A - except that with Medicare Supplement Plan M, 50 percent of the Part A deductible is covered, rather than 100 percent. Both of these plans (Plan M and Plan M) will also provide coverage for the following needs:
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
- Foreign travel exchange - up to the plan’s limit of 80 percent.
Heartland National Life Insurance Company also offers fast claims paying services to their Medicare Supplement insurance plan enrollees, with claims typically being paid within five days or less.
For someone to be eligible to purchase Medicare Supplement insurance coverage, there are some requirements:
- Be age 65 or older. However, if an individual is younger than age 65, they could also be qualified for Medicare due to a disability and / or by having End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).
- Be enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B (which is also known as the Original Medicare program).
- Paying the Part B Premium
- Live in a state where the Medigap plan is sold.
Other Available Products
Medigap policies are not the only thing they sell. Heartland National Life Insurance Company also offers:
- Cancer Care Coverage - This coverage offers a cash lump sum benefit if the insured has been diagnosed with cancer. This plan can never be canceled by the insurance company. There is also no lifetime maximum on the coverage, and there is also family coverage that is available. The lump sum cash benefit is paid out directly to the policyholder.
- Hospitalization Coverage - The hospital coverage that is offered by Heartland National Life Insurance Company will pay between $100 and $500 per day in benefits. This plan pays cash directly to the policyholder, and the funds can be used for any number of different needs, including durable medical equipment, doctor visits, ambulance services, and/or emergency room care.
Heartland also offers a Medigap Claims and Premium Reduction Network via USA Medigap CPR. This is a network of respected facilities that cater to the particular needs of the American Medicare market.
Getting the Best Rates on Medigap Coverage
Shopping for Medigap insurance can be difficult. You need to compare all of the ten plans to figure out which kind of policy will meet your healthcare needs. You want to get the perfect amount of protection.
Not only do you have to pick from the ten options of plans, but you also need to wade through all of the carriers. Sure, they are required to offer the same coverage, but they don’t have to have the same prices. If you’re not careful, you can pay more than you have to.
Heartland National is only one of the thousands of companies. Only getting a single quote is the worst thing you can do for your insurance search.
Do you want to spend hours and hours on the phone talking to agents? Probably not. Instead of making all those calls, just make one single one to us. We can deliver you a handful of quotes all at once. Saving you time and money.