How to Switch a Medicare Supplement Plan

Being an American, you must have heard of Medicare supplement plans also referred to as Medigap plans. These are a particular type of Medicare plans that are crafted particularly to provide coverage for healthcare expenditures those are not covered by traditional Medicare plans. Supplement plans are mostly sold by private health insurers. The prices of the plans differ widely based on the amount of coverage one needs and able to afford. If an individual finds that her existing coverage is not adequate to her needs, she can change her policy and/or the insurance provider for one that suits her requirements in a better way.

Here are some useful tips on how to switch Medicare supplements plans without hampering present coverage. If you are holder of such a policy and want to change existing policy, you can certainly follow these tips.
 

Collect insurance quotes - At the outset, you need to gather quotes from different insurance companies and compare the quotes both in terms of their price and extent of coverage. You may contact your respective state is office of health insurance assistance for gathering the quotes. Narrow down your search by focusing on factors you are interested in. Select one that suits your need and budget in the best possible way.
 

Fill out the application form - As the next step, you need to collect and fill up the insurance application form. On the application form, you need to commit to cancel your present supplement plan within the first 30 days of buying the new plan. It denotes that for these 30 days, you need to pay for both the policies. After that, you are free to cancel any of these two policies keeping one that suits you the most.
 

Call present insurance provider - Now you call your present insurance provider and inform them about your decision of canceling the policy bought from them. Every company has its own procedure for cancellation. So you must be careful about taking notes on required steps to follow.

Following the above mentioned tips, you can easily change your present Medicare supplements plan, being unsatisfied.

Words of caution

Here are some words of caution that you must go through before you make final decision.

1. Dont cancel your existing coverage unless you are approved for the new policy in writing.

2. When it comes to checking the benefits and drawbacks of different insurance providers, it would be great to visit local office of insurance commissioner and ask about any complaints filed by other consumers against your preferred insurance company.

3. You can opt for online quotes for comparing rates from different insurance companies. However, if you dont have access to a computer with Internet connection, you can get it done from local library. They will be rather happy to help you in this regard.

4. There are a number of legal requirements, restrictions and considerations to factor into the decision taken by you. So you must not hesitate to get help from your respective state is local office of health insurance assistance.

You can change your Medicare supplement plan any time being dissatisfied with it. Nevertheless, dont make any decision by doing hurry. Spend time on reviewing all the pros and cons of the policy that you are likely to switch to.