Insurance Info

Effective June 1, 2010, the Medicare Supplement marketplace will look completely different. That is the government-appointed date, on which all companies that market and sell Medicare Supplement plans will have to abide by the modernized Medigap plans chart. Most significantly, this modernization adds two new plans to the mix of available Medicare Supplemental plans, Plan M and Plan N. Both plans promise to be legitimate choices for new and existing policyholders – are they right for you?

What the Plans Will Cover

Medicare Supplement Plan M will be very similar to current Medigap Plan D. It will still have the core benefits of covering the 20% that Medicare doesn’t cover at the doctor, hospital and skilled nursing (as well as hospice coverage); however, Plan M will not cover the Medicare Part B deductible (currently $135/year) and it will only cover half of the Medicare Part A deductible (currently $1068/year). It will not have any co-pays, though. Most people project Plan M to have a premium of approximately 85% of current Plan F premiums (Plan F is the most common plan currently). Continue reading ‘Medicare Supplement Plan M and Plan N – Why the New Plans Might Be Right For You’ »

Your individual Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment period is the period of time in which you can purchase a Medicare Supplement from any insurance company, without having to qualify medically, pay a higher rate due to any current or former health conditions, or wait for coverage. Open Enrollment is Federally-mandated, so every company has to abide by it.

When Is It?

This initial enrollment period begins for each individual on the first day of the month in which they are both age 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B. It lasts for a period of six months from that date. For example, if your birthday is March 3 and you enroll in Medicare Part B to start on March 1 of that same year, your Open Enrollment period would begin on March 1 and last through the month of August. Continue reading ‘Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment – When is it and How Does it Work?’ »

Individual health insurance is beneficial in several different situations. There is health insurance for self-employed people and small business owners, who don’t get health insurance through an employer because they’re their own employer. Also, unemployed people who don’t have health coverage otherwise can use this insurance. Lastly, recent grads can buy this type of insurance when their college health insurance runs out shortly after graduation. It can also be used as supplementary insurance for people who are covered through their employers or via a spouse because it can add additional coverage where the other policies come up short.

Continue reading ‘Buying Individual Health Insurance Useful as a Primary or Supplement’ »

As it is known that the original Medicare has certain gaps that prevents the Original Medicare policies to pay for all the health care services that you may need. Therefore when you are in the original Medicare you shall need some extra help from the Medicare Supplement Insurance plans or the Medigap policies. These Medicare supplement plans are health insurance works as supplementary help along with the original Medicare for the costs it does not cover. These Medicare supplement plans are sold by the private health insurance companies and by the law these companies can offer only 12 standard medigap insurance plans. These plans are named A through L. Each of these plans has a different set of benefits. But there are certain terms and conditions regarding the Medicare supplement plans. As for example: beginning in 2006, Medigap Plans H, I, and J, cannot be sold with prescription-drug benefits, although people who already had those policies can keep them.

There are several other circumstances in which the Medicare supplement plans cannot be used. As it should be known to all who are interested in purchasing Medicare supplement plans it is essential that the person willing to have the Medigap policies must be under the original Medicare plan to get enrolled for the Medigap plans. If you are already having the Medicare supplement plans and you switch over to the Medicare Advantage plan form the original Medicare then you cannot use the Medigap plans unless you switch back to the original Medicare. This is very much essential as the Medicare supplement plans are meant to work with the Original Medicare only.

Continue reading ‘Medicare Supplement Plans For The Better Advantage of Health Insurance’ »