Medicare Supplements (Medigap)

A Medicare Supplement policy is an individual or group medical expense health policy that is designed primarily as a supplement to Medicare coverage. These plans pay for items that original Medicare won’t cover such as deductibles, co-insurance and co-payments. In most states, there are 10 standardized Medicare plans that are denoted by the letters A through N. The insurance companies offering these plans do not have to offer every Medicare plan, but they must offer at least Plan A and either Plan C or Plan F if they choose to offer any supplemental coverage. Each lettered plan must include the same standardized benefits regardless of carrier and location. For example if company # 1 offers a plan G and company #2 offers a plan G both companies must have the very exact same benefits.

The best time to buy a Medicare supplement policy is during your 6-month Medicare open enrollment period because you can buy any Medicare supplement policy sold in your state, even if you have health problems. This period automatically starts the month you’re 65 and enrolled in Medicare Part B, and once it’s over, you can’t get it again. If you apply during your Medicare supplement open enrollment period, you can buy any Medicare supplement policy the company sells, even if you have health problems, for the same price as people with good health. Medicare supplement insurance companies are generally allowed to use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept your application and how much to charge you for the Medicare supplement policy. Any standardized Medicare supplement policy is guaranteed renewable even if you have health problems. This means the insurance company can’t cancel your Medicare supplement policy as long as you pay the premium.