Medicare Coverage, Should You Have Additional Health Insurance?

It’s often wise to purchase health insurance to supplement your Original Medicare coverage. Medicare generally won’t cover all of your medical expenses. Usually, you’ll have to satisfy a deductible before Medicare pays anything. You will also pay a co-payment when you visit a physician or are admitted to the hospital.

Medigap May Plug the Gaps in Your Coverage

You can buy supplemental insurance from private companies that will help you plug the gaps in your coverage. These Medigap plans are regulated and standardized by the federal government. There are 10 different kinds of plans. However, your state may not offer all of them (and three states, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, have their own standardized plans). If premium cost is a concern, you can purchase lower-cost Medigap plans. These plans only partially cover deductibles, co-payments and coinsurance costs. Conversely, if you want extensive coverage and don’t mind paying more for it, you can purchase a Medigap plan that covers most of the deductibles, co-payments, and extra charges associated with Medicare. You can compare plans at the Health Care Financing Administration’s website (www.medicare.gov).

Whatever plan you choose, you have the right to cancel it within a certain amount of time (usually 30 days, sometimes longer) if you don’t like the policy after you buy it. In addition, the policy must be guaranteed renewable and cannot duplicate existing coverage, including Medicare.

Supplement Medicare With Employer-Sponsored Health Care Insurance

Another way to supplement Medicare is to keep in effect any employer-sponsored health-care insurance you have. Depending on the type of coverage you have, and whether you’re retired, one plan will pay your health-care costs first, and the other plan will cover some or all of the remaining costs. To make sure claims are properly paid, let your health provider know when you have health insurance in addition to Medicare.

Medicare Advantage (Part C)

If you have a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan, you don’t need a Medigap plan, and it’s illegal for anyone to sell you one, unless you’re in the process of switching back to Original Medicare.

Medicare Supplement Resources

SeniorCare.com provides other Medicare Supplement Resources.

Have you reviewed all your alternatives, including Original Medicare, Original Medicare with Supplemental Coverage(s), or Medicare Advantage?

Prepared by Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2017.  Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. The information presented here is not specific to any individual’s personal circumstances. To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances. These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable. We cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.

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