The Benefits of a Medigap Plan


If you have recently enrolled, or planning to enroll, in the Original Medicare Plan, you may want to consider adding a Medigap policy to your coverage.

Intended to supplement the Original Medicare Plan and run by private companies, a Medigap policy can fill some of the coverage gaps left by your Medicare Plan. It can help cover some of your personal costs involved in your Medicare plan, like coinsurance, copayments, or deductibles.  Some policies also offer additional coverage, although they won’t include vision or dental care, hearing aids, long-term care in a facility such as a nursing home, or private-duty nursing.

Labeled A through L, Standardized Medigap plans provide a variety of benefits to Original Medicare recipients.   Medigap plan A, which helps to cover Medicare Part A coinsurance and Medigap coverage for hospital benefits, is essential to all Medigap policies and necessary in order for companies to be able to offer any other coverage.  In addition to Medigap Plan A, coverage may include Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment, preventative care coinsurance, Medicare Part B excess charges, Medicare Parts A and B deductibles, the first three pints of blood, and skilled nursing facility care coinsurance, as well limited foreign travel emergency and at-home recovery. Some plans will also cover part of your hospice care coinsurance or copayment. All policies will offer the same basic benefits, although not all types of plans will be available in each state.  And, of course, companies offer them at different costs.

Although the Original Medicare Plan provides recipients with excellent benefits, a Medigap may help to meet your health care needs not covered by your plan.  For more information, call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program or Medicare at 1-800-633-4227. You may also want to visit www.medicare.gov, and select “Compare Health Plans and Medigap Policies in Your Area”.


Submit Your Comments or Questions Here