Why Buy A Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan
If you have Medicare Part A and Part B you may have OK insurance
, but this protection may not come close to being enough protection. For this reason many seniors have chosen to supplement their protection or to choose a Medicare Part C policy instead of depending on Original Medicare.Part A covers you in the hospital, but not completely. You will have a deductible to pay. You have coinsurance to pay also and there is a maximum number of days that you can be covered in the hospital before all of the expenses have to come out of your pocket.
If all you have is Part A and Medicare Part B, you will may have to pay a substantial amount fo the costs if you need hospital care. In 2011, the Medicare hospital deductible will be $1,132. You won't have other expenses unless you are in the hospital longer then 60 days. If you stay longer, you will have to pay $283 a day for the next 30 days in the hospital.
If you are in the hospital longer than that during one benefit period, you will start using your lifetime reserve days. You will $566 a day to pay while you are using your lifetime reserve days. After you have exhausted your lifetime reserve days, you will be responsible for all expenses.
Medicare Part C covers doctor's visits. However, you will have a deductible to pay. You will have coinsurance to pay as well.
The 2011 deductible has gone up. The new amount for physician visits will be $162. You will have to dig into your pocket for 20% of expenses in excess of the deductible up to the amount that Medicare approves. You may also pay for any amount that your doctor charges that are in excess of what Medicare approves.
Two things that Original Medicare doesn't cover well are medicines and long term care. Medicines received in the hospital are part of the hospital insurance. There is a very limited amount of protection provided by Medicare for time in the nursing home.
You can get insurance for most of the medical expenses that you might incur by purchasing Medicare Part C and Medicare Part D, a Medicare Part C plan that insures drugs or a Medicare Supplement policy and Medicare Part D.
Medicare Part C is also known as Medicare Advantage. These are very popular policies today.
A Medicare Advantage policy can be nearly all comprehensive. It won't cover long-term care, but it can give you much better insurance than Original Medicare alone. Much of the exposure that you would have in the hospital will be eliminated. The same is true in the doctor's office.
These options tend to pay poorly or not at all if you used health care providers who are outside of the network for any non emergency care. Since emergency medical care is covered, trips inside the United States shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't need routine treatment while you are away from home. This restriction can hurt you if you are a snowbird or you have a health condition that requires routine treatment when you are away from home.
These health plans usually cover Rx also. Some do not, but you can purchase a standalone prescription drug plan.
A Medicare Part D policy is also known as a Prescription Drug Policy. These contracts can dramatically reduce your expenses for prescriptions. Prescription drug coverage is usually included in Medicare Part C, but is no longer included in Medicare Supplement plans.
Medicare Supplement plans when combined with Original Medicare and a Prescription drug policy can also cover you in a nearly comprehensive way. Although the coverage in a nursing home will still be lacking, you can get excellent coverage in the doctor's office, the hospital and for prescribed drugs with this combination.
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