subject: Medicare Supplement Insurance For Your Wife's Safety [print this page] There exist many questions surrounding medicare supplement insurance, and it is something that should be owned by everyone. These are policies sold by private companies to provide something called gap coverage. The is a way to have coverage over and above what is provided by medicare. Sometimes there are minor gaps but other times these gaps can be quite considerable. The added expense can frequently be more than a budged can withstand for a given month. This is why supplement insurance is important and why no one should find themselves without it.
Once retirement age arrives, there is no excuse for not being prepared. Of course the recent economic downturn has hurt many retirement funds, and some people never saved properly to begin with. Still, medical expenses continue to eat a huge portion of the retired person's budget, and when an emergency arrives the importance for supplemental insurance is easy to see.
It is not a concern for whether or not to invest in supplemental insurance. It is a matter of which plan to use. The good news is that here are any number of plans available. The benefits vary and the price follows as expected. Those looking to make a purchase must make certain they are well aware of their many options before making the very critical decision of which plan to pursue.
In fact there are twelve plans available, even though some are not options in certain states. Some refer to these plans as something called Medigap insurance. Prices and benefits vary, and for those that are not available in certain states there are other similarly priced options that provide the same level of benefits.
One thing of importance to note is that the benefit these plans offer are the same from one company to the next, however the premiums are frequently very different. Understand that paying more does not equal more benefits for a given plan. Even the process of making a claim is the same. There will surely be salespeople who indicate otherwise, however the law overrides their sales pitch ever time.
On January first of each year, the benefits of medicare are adjusted for inflation. Because the supplemental insurance benefits follow along with those from medicare, this means that your rates for medicare supplement insurance will increase every year with inflation.
Prices for these plans are set in three ways. One is called attained age. In this price plan, premiums will increase due to inflation as well annually every 1, 3, or 5 years. Still, this is often the least expensive option. The next is issue age. Cost here is based on a persons age when they sign up. There are no increases in premiums other than the annual inflation adjustment. Finally, community-rated plans offer premium prices based on geographic location.
Clearly there are many options along with a number of pitfalls. Still, with a little research there is a plan available that can meet anyone's needs.
by: Henry Reynolds
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