Saturday, August 10, 2013

Advantages and Disadvantages of Medicare Supplement Plans

Both Medicare part A and part B help seniors meet their healthcare needs. However, they don’t cover all sorts of medical expenditure. And here the need of supplemental policies comes into play. Such policies often pay for medical expenses that are not covered by original Medicare.

They are especially created to fill up the gaps in healthcare coverage which are part of part A that provides coverage for hospital stay and part B that provides coverage for doctor visit. The gaps may include co-pays and deductibles which would otherwise to be paid from the seniors pocket.
 
Advantages of supplement plans

Medicare supplement insurance plans fills up the gaps in healthcare coverage. Moreover, the plans provide standardized coverage. The federal government of the country has mandated the coverage which must be included in 12 different supplement plans - from A through L - so that the insured individual doesnt need to worry about being hoodwinked by an insurance agent.
 
Disadvantages of supplement plans

Medicare supplements have some disadvantages too! Since the extent of coverage is mandated and monitored by the government, the insured individual doesnt have the flexibility while choosing a plan. In addition to that, a supplement plan mostly results in an additional monthly expenditure which increases by every passing year as the insured individual gets older. And it can bring about financial burden to those seniors with fixed monthly income.
 
Need of buying a supplement plan

Considering above-discussed cons of Medicare plans, many insurance advisors recommend seniors to buy a supplemental insurance plan. Although it is not compulsory to enroll in Medicare supplement or Medigap, yet insurance advisors suggest buying such a plan for some particular instances. To get enrolled in other parts of Medicare, an individual is needed to have part A that offer hospital insurance. Once he buys part A, he can add part B that provides basic healthcare insurance. Part A and part B together are referred to as traditional Medicare. At this point, he can select any particular coverage that he wants to add. He can add a prescription medication plan that is commonly known as Medicare part D and then he can add Medicare supplement to fulfill the gaps in coverage. However, he can also opt for buying an advantage plan, known as part C, offered by private insurance company instead of a supplement plan. However, one who has bought Medicare supplement plan needs not to buy a Medicare advantage plan and vice versa.
 
Choosing supplement plan

In the conclusion, whether or not one should buy this plan is completely his/her own decision. If he doesnt have part C plan, then he may need some additional coverage to both parts A and B, and in that case, he should buy Medigap plan. Whether he choose part C or supplement plan, he must consider if he will get the right extent of coverage for the premium he is about to pay. He must remember that if he buys part C, then he cant buy a supplement plan. And he must conduct a Medicare supplements comparison before making any decision.

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