Medicare Supplements Made Easy Network Updated on May 17, 2012

Medicare Gap Plans

If you’ve worked for a company and received your health insurance for you and your family through that company, you most likely were not very involved in choosing the plan or even knowing much about what it covers. When you retire and join Medicare, you must make a huge choice that will affect the remainder of your life. For this reason, it is critical that you understand exactly how the Medicare system functions, what gaps it leaves, and how you are going to cover those gaps via secondary coverage. Three months prior to your 65th birthday, you are bombarded with information from all the companies in your area and the myriad of plans available. Before you begin opening the brochures and pamphlets on the Medicare program, you should learn the basics so that you are educated enough to choose Medicare gap plans and which insurance company will supplement Medicare Parts A and B.

Medicare is comprised of four parts, A through D, and is formulated to cover 80% of all hospital and doctor expenses, leaving you with the remaining 20% to cover on your ownM. Part A of Medicare is your hospital, or outpatient coverage. Before Medicare will cover 80% of all your hospital costs, you must fulfill a pretty substantial deductible of $1132 every 60 days. Part B of Medicare refers to doctor, or impatient, coverage and before Medicare will cover 80% of your costs, Medicare beneficiaries must fulfill a deductible of $162 annually. Therefore, there are three gaps Medicare leaves that Medicare Gap Plans are designed to cover- the Part A deductible, the Part B deductible, and the auxiliary 20% of all doctor and hospital bills. Part D is Medicare’s form of prescription coverage, and is not covered under Medicare Gap plans. It is a separate cost.

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