Insurance
Medicare Supplement Plans: What You Need To Know
Medicare supplement plans are also known as Medigap. This is because these plans fill some of the gaps that original medicare does not cover. Medigap plans don’t offer any health benefits, they help cover medical bills that you are responsible for with original medicare. Some of these costs include:
- Cosinsurance
- Medicare deductibles
- Hospital bills after you run out of Medicare covered days
- Nursing facility costs after you run out of Medicare covered days
How Does Medigap Work
You will pay your monthly premium for your Medigap plan. The plan pays most of your out of pocket bills from your doctors visits. For example, when you go to the doctors office, you will not be obligated to pay the 20% cosinsurance that Medicare requires. With the help of Medigap plans, you will have a copay instead of the 20% coinsurance.
What Are The Medigap Plans
There are 10 Medigap plans: A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. Each plan has a different benefit offering.
What Do Are The Medgigap Plan Benefits:
Below is a break down of what each Medigap plan covers.
Plan A
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – No
- Part A deductible – No
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – No
Plan B
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – No
- Part A deductible – Yes
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – No
Plan C
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible –Yes
- Part B deductible – Yes
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Plan D
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible – No
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – 80%
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Plan F
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible – Yes
- Part B deductible – Yes
- Part B excess charge – Yes
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Plan G
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible – Yes
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – Yes
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Plan K
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – 50%
- Blood (first 3 pints) – 50%
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – 50%
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – 50%
- Part A deductible – 50%
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – No
Plan L
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – 75%
- Blood (first 3 pints) – 75%
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – 75%
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – 75%
- Part A deductible – 75%
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – No
Plan M
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible – 50%
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Plan N
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up – Yes
- Part B coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Blood (first 3 pints) – Yes
- Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment – Yes
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance – Yes
- Part A deductible – Yes
- Part B deductible – No
- Part B excess charge – No
- Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) – 80%
Medigap Cost
Insurance companies have three methods of pricing out medigap plans. They are:
- Age – The cost for premiums are lower for younger people and as you age they go up.
- Community – This is when most people pay the same despite their age or sex. If the premium goes up, it goes up for everyone.
- Issue-age – This pricing is based on when a person purchases the plan. The plan can go up due to inflation in subsequent years.
Benefits Of Medigap
- Medigap plans can totally eliminate out-of-pocket costs
- Help cover deductibles, copayments, coinsurance
- If you enroll during open enrollment after the age of 65, you cannot be excluded based on your health
- Lots of plan options
- Medigap plans will cover 80% of emergency services when traveling outside of the United States
Disadvantages Of Medigap
Final Thought
Medigap is great. It can help cover the cost of medical bills that medicare does not cover. They key is to carefully study the benefits of each plan to understand which one is right for you.
