What You Should Know About Medigap Insurance

Medigap: Medicare Supplement Plan

Medigap plans are designed to fill in the 'gaps' of traditional Medicare coverage. Medicare Parts A and B provide excellent basic medical coverage, but leave many costs to the Medicare recipient. Medigap plans cover those remaining costs. There are 12 basic Medigap plans in most areas, and the benefits differ based on which plan one chooses from Medigap plans A through L. What every senior Should know about Medigap.

Medigap plans are generally health underwritten, which means in order to qualify, one needs to be relatively healthy. However, there are periods of time when anyone with Medicare is guaranteed acceptance, regardless of health status. The most common 'guaranteed acceptance' period is three months before and six months after one’s 65th birthday.

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When you are sixty five years old, you become eligible for Medicare enrollment, a government program for health care. Everyone in the program receives Part A and Part B coverage in the Medicare program. It does not cover all of your medical expenses however, and many people look for Medigap insurance to get additional coverage.

The Medicare program offers Part C coverage which eliminates the need for extra coverage. When you sign up for Part C, you are joining a type of managed care sub-program. You lose some of your options however with Part C, so it is important to study the offerings.

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There are ten basic types of Medigap policies and they are offered by many different insurers. They are identified by letters and the details of each plan are delineated by the Government. They do not set the pricing structures however, or protect you from increases in policy payments. Each insurer is free to set those details.

The least coverage is offered by Plan A and each consecutively lettered plan offers more benefits. All plans include hospital coverage sufficient to cover your total expenses including up to three hundred sixty five additional days after your Medicare coverage expires. They also cover all or some of the twenty percent coinsurance cost the patient must bear for outpatient medical bills and care. Last, they cover all or some of the cost of the first three pints of transfused blood you may require. This benefit is not covered at all by Medicare.

You have to do a lot of research and studying to determine which plan is the right one for you. The best way to begin is by making a chart or spreadsheet of insurers and the type of gap coverage they offer. You want to include in this chart, the cost, the type of coverage, the commencement date of coverage, any waiting periods and the procedure for increasing policy premiums.

You should consider your long term budgetary needs when you are selecting a policy. Remember that the price you are offered now will go up. There is nothing in the Medicare law to regulate when an insurer can raise rates and how much of a increase they can get. Look for policies that address this issue.