Speak with an experienced advisor! Living on a fixed income has several challenges that most people haven’t faced before. One of those hurdles is paying for health care and medical bills that can quickly destroy a retirement nest egg.
Because Medicare doesn’t cover everything, it can leave seniors between a rock and hard place trying to pay for medical bills. One way to offset that risk is to buy a Medigap plan.
There are ten supplemental policies on the market. They are named by letters of the alphabet.
In this article, we are going to look at Medigap Plan A, which is the smallest of the plans.
If you are interested to see what Medicare plans are available in Georgia, we have information for you. If you already have a Medicare supplement, like Medigap Plan J, we can answer any questions you may have.
What is a Medicare Supplement Plan?
Before we detail how these plans are beneficial and the coverage for Plan A, it’s important that you understand exactly what these Medigap plans are. There are a lot of Medicare enrollees that are confused about the insurance plans and what they do.
These Medigap plans are sold by insurance companies, not Medicare, and are used to pay for expenses that are covered by original Medicare.
There are 10 different Medigap plans offered across the U.S. and they are standardized, which means Plan A is going to be the same everywhere. Each of them covers different expenses or more of certain categories.
What Does Medicare Supplement Plan A Cover?
Medicare Supplement Plan A is the most basic of all the Medicare Supplement Insurance plans. It covers the following list of benefits:
- Medicare Part A hospital care coinsurance and costs
- Medicare Part A hospice coinsurance or copayment
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- First 3 pints of blood
All plans are going to have the same “core” coverage as that of Medicare Supplement Plan A. The other Medicare Supplement plans may then build additional coverages into their list of offerings.
For example, in addition to the core list of benefits, Medicare Supplement Plan B also offers coverage for the Medicare Part A deductible. And, in addition to the list of core benefits, Medicare Supplement Plan C offers coverage for the Medicare Part A deductible, the Medicare Part A Skilled Nursing Care coinsurance, and the Medicare Part B deductible. Plan C also provides coverage for a foreign travel emergency.
Medicare Supplement Plan F is considered to be the most comprehensive of all the Medicare Supplement Insurance plans. This plan consists of the following benefits:
- Medicare Part A hospital care coinsurance and costs
- Medicare Part A hospital care coinsurance or copayment
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- First 3 pints of blood
- Medicare Part A deductible
- Medicare Part A skilled nursing home care coinsurance
- Medicare Part B deductible
- Medicare Part B excess charges
- Foreign travel emergency charges
Prior to choosing any Medicare Supplement Insurance plan, you need to know which plan covers what. That way, you will know what to expect from each plan in terms of its offerings. It is also essential to compare premium prices from several different insurers.
In doing so, it may also be good to review what Medicare itself charges in terms of deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments – as this could make a difference in the Medicare Supplement Insurance plan that you ultimately end up choosing. These amounts are also subject to change each year.
The Importance of Understanding Medicare Supplement Insurance
It is important to have an understanding of which benefits are – and which are not – included in the plan that is ultimately chosen. There are many different types such as Plan G, Plan K, Plan N, the list goes on, that may offer a certain percentage of a covered expense such as 50% or 75% as versus full coverage.
Likewise, Medicare Supplement Plan F offers a high deductible option. This means that enrollees in this particular plan are required to pay a certain deductible amount (for example, $2,180 in 2015) before the plan will begin to cover any of the benefits at all.
When a plan is purchased, it is important to know what the amount of the Medicare Part A and B deductibles and copayments are for that particular year, too, as they can make a difference in the amount of your benefits paid.
Misunderstanding or not fully understanding your Medicare Supplement Insurance coverage can lead to some surprising bills that you’ll be forced to pay for.
How and Where to Obtain the Best Premium Quotes on Medicare Supplement Plan A Coverage
When shopping for Medicare Supplement insurance coverage, it is typically best to do so by working with a company or an agency who isn’t contracted by one company. r. This is because Medicare Supplement is not offered by Medicare itself, but rather by private insurance carriers. Because of this, while the benefits that are provided by Medicare Supplement coverage are required to be identical, the rates for the policies are not going to be.
You could spend countless hours researching different companies or talking to different agents on the phone. That process can become long and tedious. Instead of wasting time on hold with agents, let us handle the work for you. Our agent can get you the rates for your specific situation.
Should you find that you have any questions at all as you go through the process, we have Medicare Supplement experts who can walk you through obtaining a policy quote, or even just with helping you in determining which of the many Medigap policies may be right for you. We understand that choosing a Medicare Supplement insurance plan may seem somewhat tricky, and we want to ensure that you have all of the details that you need prior to making your final decision.
While Medicare may cover many of your health care services at age 65 and over, it just simply doesn’t cover them all. In fact, for those who are enrolled in Medicare you could be left open to some out-of-pocket charges – unless you are protected with Medicare Supplement coverage.
When To Buy Medigap Coverage
Enrolling into a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plan might sound awful, but it’s just as easy as purchasing any other type of insurance, but there are a few things that you should know. The most important factor is WHEN you buy your Medigap plan.
If you’re going to buy a Medigap plan, you need to do is during your open enrollment period.
During this period, you can’t be rejected or charged more for the plan. Sounds good, right?
Open Enrollment lasts six months. It starts three months before you turn 65 and lasts 3 months after that.
If you’re already outside of your open enrollment time, you can still apply for life insurance. At this point, the insurance company is going to require you go through all of the hoops before they approve your application. You could get rejected or charged more for your coverage.
Picking a Medigap Plan
The first thing you should consider is your health. Do you have great health or is it less than perfect? Do you have any serious health conditions or a history of problems in the past? How is your family history, do they have problems later in life? You can’t predict the future and if you will have problems with your health, but by looking at your past and any trends with your family, it can make an educated guess at some health care expense you will have in the future.
If you are in excellent health with few conditions in your family history, you can consider buying a smaller policy which doesn’t offer as much protection buy has cheaper premiums.
The other thing that you need to consider is your finances. The majority of people enrolled into a Medigap plan are retired, which means they are probably living on a fixed income. How much money do you have saved and set aside to pay for health care costs? Can you afford to buy a policy that fills more of the holes in Medicare or can you only afford one of the more basic plans like Plan A. How much you can afford to pay every month is going to have an obvious impact on which plan that you choose?
These are only a few of the things you need to consider. If you need help picking the best plan, we are here to walk you through the process.
We can be reached directly by phone, toll-free, by calling 800-376-0827. Contact us today – we’re here to help.