subject: Why Buy a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan [print this page] Why Buy a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan
Original Medicare provides OK protection, but this insurance may not come close to being enough coverage. For this reason many seniors have chosen to supplement their coverage or to choose a Medicare Part C policy instead of depending on Original Medicare.
Medicare Part A insures you in the hospital, but not entirely. You will have a deductible to pay. You have coinsurance to pay. There is a maximum number of days that you can be covered in the hospital before all of the medical costs have to come out of your pocket.
If all you have is Part A and Medicare Part B, you will may have to dig deeply into your pockets 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 there 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 medical expenses.
Medicare Part C insures doctor's visits. However, you will have a deductible to pay. You will have coinsurance to pay as well.
Medicare's 2011 deductible has gone up. The new amount for physician visits will be $162. You will be responsible for 20% of costs 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 even a combination of Part A and Part b won't cover well are medicines and long term care. Rx received in the hospital are part of the hospital coverage. There is a very limited amount of protection provided by Medicare for nursing home stays.
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 prescription medicines or a Medicare Supplement policy and Medicare Part D.
Medicare Advantage policies are Part C plans. These are very popular options today.
A Medicare Advantage policy can be nearly all comprehensive. It won't cover long-term care, but it can give you much better protection 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 providers who are outside of the network for any non emergency care. Since emergency care is covered, travel inside the United States shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't need routine care while you are away from home. This limitation can hurt you if you spend months away from home or you have a health condition that requires routine care when you are away from home.
These insurance policies usually cover medicines 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 Plan. These contracts can dramatically reduce your expenses for prescriptions. Prescription drug protection is usually included in Medicare Part C, but is no longer included in Medicare Supplement health plans.
Medicare Supplement options 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 protection in the doctor's office, the hospital and for prescribed drugs with this combination.
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
