Medicare Supplements
What is Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Insurance?
A Medicare supplement (Medigap policy) sold by private insurance companies, can help pay substantial health care costs that Medicare doesn’t cover, like co-payments, coinsurance, and deductibles.
If you have Original Medicare and you buy a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs, and your Medigap policy pays its share.
What You Need To Know About Medigap Policies:
- These plans allow you to see any doctor in the US, as long as they accept Medicare, they will accept your supplement.
- You must have Medicare Part A and Part B.
- If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can apply for a Medigap policy, but need to make sure you can leave the Medicare Advantage Plan before your Medigap policy begins.
- You pay the private insurance company a monthly premium for your Medigap policy in addition to the monthly Part B premium that you pay to Medicare.
- Any standardized Medigap policy is guaranteed renewable even if you have health problems. This means the insurance company can’t cancel your Medigap policy as long as you pay the premium.
- Medigap policies sold after January 1, 2006 aren’t allowed to include prescription drug coverage. If you want prescription drug coverage, you can join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D).