Medicare Supplement Plans
Medicare has offered people on medicare some optional supplemental drug plans to get supplemental insurance to take care of the medical bills and medications that Medicare doesn’t pay for. There are several plans to choose from and the people on medicare had to choose which plan they wanted to sign up for before May 15, 2006. If they already had supplemental insurance from some other company they were not obligated to get one of the medicare plans. The monthly premiums would depend on the plan they chose.
There were three Medigap policies that people chose from and if they still wanted to keep their plan they would pay an increases premium. Medigap plans were H, I, and J. You had the options of keeping the policy you already had or enroll in a medicare prescription plan and keep the Medigap policy, or you could enroll in a prescription drug plan and you could buy Medigap plan A, B, C, F, K, or L. If you enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan you won’t need the Medigap policy.
These new plans the government came up with confused a lot of senior citizens and they did nothing. They did not understand the many choices they had and they were afraid to change what they already had even though the Medicare representatives stated that they would benefit more if they enrolled in one of the new plans. Many people were afraid everything would cost more and they were just barely getting by on their Social Security checks. These plans are for people who are over 65 or are disabled and on SSI or Social Security. If you have group insurance through your employer or former employer you will not need any of these plans. If you are on Medicaid or the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program pays your Medicare premiums and other out of pocket costs you do not need any of the new plans.
There are other insurance companies that offer supplemental plans that might be cheaper and better than the plan the government has devised. It would be worth a little research to compare some other supplemental plans before you decide which one might be for you. AARP has a supplemental insurance plan that is devised to go along with the Medicare plan. You might want to check it out too.
Medicare enters into yearly contracts with different insurance companies and managed care plans. The original Medicare plan is available for all people over 65 and some disabled people under 65. The original plan coordinates with group retirement plans. Medicaid, medicare savings programs, and medigap insurance. It sounds complicated and confusing and it may be for some but it can be explained to you so if you have questions talk to an insurance agent or a representative of the Medicare program.
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