Medicare Supplement and its Benefits
Federal and State Laws have designed every Medigap policy with the purpose to protect you. These policies are clearly identified as Medicare Supplement Insurance. As per Law, only Standardized policies can be sold by insurance companies. These policies are identified by letters in most states.
There are certain benefits that are basic in all of them with some additional benefits in some of them. This makes it easy to pick a plan that fulfils your requirements. There are different ways in which Medigap policies are standardized.
What is Medicare Supplement Insurance?
Certain health care cost are not covered under the original Medicare plan, such as coinsurance, co-payments and deductibles. Medicare Supplement Insurance can help pay these uncovered costs. Services like medical care when you travel outside the U.S. are not covered under original Medicare. Some Medigap plans also cover such services.
If you have both, the original Medicare and a Medigap policy, then Medicare will pay its share of bills and then Medigap will pay its share. Medigap policy only supplements original Medicare and is different from Medicare advantage plan.
Medicare Supplement Benefits
- Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up.
- Part B coinsurance or co-payment
- First 3 pints of blood
- Part A hospice care, coinsurance or co-payment
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
- Part A deductibles
Long term care, private duty nursing, eyeglasses, hearing aids and vision or dental care are generally not covered under Medigap policy.
Insurance companies can decide which Medigap plan they want to sell, however, state laws affects this decision. Insurance companies offering Medigap plans:
- Must provide Medigap Plan A if they sell any Medigap plan.
- Plan C or Plan F must also be offered if they sell any policy.
- Don’t have to offer every Medigap plan.