One thing that everybody wants from any insurance company is stability, the knowledge that the company will be there when you need them.  Few feelings in the world are as helpless as seeing your insurance company go belly up and you know that everything you have paid for is gone.  With a company like Mutual of Omaha you will get a company that has proven to be successful in the long and short term.
continue reading "Why Mutual of Omaha is a Good Choice for Medicare Supplement Insurance"

Medicare introduced the new and exciting Medicare Plan M for Medicare supplement insurance on June 1^st 2010 and it has become popular since.  The idea behind Medicare Plan M is that you can split your out-of-pocket costs associated with some coverage options rather than pay it all yourself.  The plan has become popular due to the people that need to save money in any way possible.
continue reading "Medicare Plan M Can Save You Money"

Medigap policies are the same as Medicare supplement insurance that covers you for the portion of insurance that is not covered by Medicare.  Some parts of this coverage is regulated by the state as most insurance coverage other than basic Medicare is.  With this in mind some states have requirements for Medigap policies and here are the requirements for Massachusetts:
continue reading "Massachusetts Basic Medigap Benefits Requirements"

This question is frequently asked and answered in the back-and-forth understanding between Medicare subscribers and experts in the field.  The bottom line for the answer is this, Medicare Supplement policies (or Medigap) have to pay for the services if you are paying for their services.  How these payments are handled may differ, but in the end the amount paid and the fact that it will be paid remains the same.
continue reading "How does Medicare Supplement Insurance pay for my claim?"

Insurance and government are two separate entities that operate in similar ways by covering up so much of what they do in legal jargon.  When you combine the two worlds you start to get really confused and the people who pay for the coverage start to get lost.  Medicare policyholders have the option to buy Medigap (or Medicare Supplement Insurance) policies that help to pay for what Medicare doesn’t, but you must know a few things about these policies.
continue reading "What is Medicare Select Insurance?"

As is the case with any type of insurance coverage that you buy there will be a different premium quoted for one insurance company against the other.  Some insurance companies structure pay for their employees differently while others cut back in costs in other ways to make things cheaper for you.  With Medigap insurance, or Medicare Supplement Insurance, this idea is no different from other kinds of insurance.
continue reading "Why are some Medigap Policies more expensive than others?"

The decision to use Hospice care for yourself or a family member is a tough one to make as there is a degree of admitting that things will never be the same.  Hospice is intended for those with conditions that have no cure or the elderly that have received word from their doctor that there may not be much time left.  In this situation your Medigap coverage could help you pay for the Hospice care that you need.

Your Medicare Part A coverage will pay for part of the cost of receiving Hospice care, though you would still be responsible for the coinsurance that is not covered.  If you have a Medigap policy it should help you pay for the portion of your care that is not covered by Medicare Part A.  This could be partial or full payment of the remaining amount depending on the plan you have.

Under Plan K, this coverage will be 50% and under Plan L it will be 75%.  For all other plans it will be 100%.  As you can see, having Medigap coverage pays off when you need Hospice care for yourself or a loved one.  Getting Medigap coverage may seem like a waste of money when you don’t need it, but it definitely pays off when needed.

Our society today is dealing with the ill-effects of adjustable rate mortgages and the loss of homes that they have created by falling apart.  This same aspect can be seen in Medigap insurance if you don’t pay attention to the type of premium you have when you start your supplemental plan.  The premium pricing plan of attained age rated will affect you in your pocket down the line more than it may seem.

The attractive part of an attained age rated premium is that it comes with possibly the lowest premium of all to start out with.  These premiums will be lower to begin with than any other supplemental plan, but watch out for the ill-effects down the line.  Just like the adjustable rate mortgages that mirror the process, attained age premiums will come back to get you.

Even though these premiums will start out lower than anyone else, they will eventually be higher than anyone else after years go by.  This may seem attractive to save in the beginning, but the scary idea is that you tend to have less and less income as you get older.  You don’t want your premiums to go up right when you happen to need money the most in your life.

There are a lot of different ways to approach setting the premium for Medigap policies and all have their different positives and negatives.  There are some that believe it matters when you are accepted into the policy while others believe that doesn’t matter at all, but it matters to you.  One way in which to rate these policies for premiums is to use the issue-age rating, sometimes called the “entry age-rated” system.

The belief in this system is that it matters what age you are when you are admitted to the policy and it will therefore affect your premium.  This is the type of rating system that encourages people to get in early and start paying premiums in order to save money later.  This makes the situation a little more pressing for you to get started and make a decision on a medigap policy.

Policies that are issue-age rated can still be susceptible to inflation and other factors, but your age will not affect the premiums again.  The amount of money you can save over a long time period can be well worth getting into the medigap act as soon as possible.  Look for offers in your area to supplement your Medicare policy and rest easy when medical conditions or treatments come your way.

Medigap, or Medicare Supplement Insurance, is no different than any other type of insurance that is private or not.  It is designed in a way to give the biggest number of people the most amount of coverage possible to protect the public.  There are multiple different ways in which the prices are considered and set to get the best premiums, one is called Community (or “no age related”) rating.

The biggest thing to remember about community ratings is that they are more fitting of their nickname of “no age related” policies.  These premiums for a policy are based on the amount it will take anybody in the area to obtain the insurance.  In other words, regardless of your age or any other characteristic, the premiums will remain with this coverage because the decision was to charge everyone the same.

The downside of having one premium that applies to everyone and your age not being a factor is the premium may be a little more erratic.  Inflation is more of a factor with these policies because there are no changes if you get older, just inflation.  So, the relief is that you know what your premium will be regardless of your age or financial situation.

Medicare supplement insurance is supposed to help you fill in the gaps where your basic Medicare coverage has dropped the ball and not paid for coverage.  To do this your supplement insurance plan or company needs to be notified when you decide to have them pick up the rest of the tab.  Many people are unaware of how to complete this simple process and for those that are unsure this article could help clear it up for you.
continue reading "How to Get Your Supplement Insurance to Cover the Gaps"

As was discussed previously, in certain instances it is acceptable for Medigap policies to exclude pre-existing conditions for a six month period after the start of the policy.  The policy can exclude the coverage of these conditions during this period but must start coverage at the end of the “pre-existing condition waiting period”.  There is a way to make sure that you skip this period and go right into having your coverage.
continue reading "The Importance of “Creditable Coverage” with Medigap Policies"

Medigap insurance is supplemental insurance to your Medicare insurance that is sold by insurance companies who are regulated by Medicare.  These companies can sell Medigap policies and make a profit from doing so but they must abide by rules and regulations set forth.  One of these rules is about the treatment of pre-existing conditions by the supplemental policies that are sold.
continue reading "How Does Medigap Treat Pre-Existing Conditions?"

Open enrollment is the time when you are allowed to enroll in Medicare for the first time and you have many options to assess.  Your Medicare open enrollment will happen the day you turn 65 AND are enrolled in Medicare Part B.  Insurance companies must adhere to some specific rules at this time in reference to Medical underwriting, here are a few of the rules they must adhere to: 
continue reading "What are Your Rights to Medigap Policies during Open Enrollment?"

Medigap insurance (Medicare Supplemental Insurance) is very important to many people who have needs above and beyond what Medicare offers.  Due to the fact that many people cannot get the coverage that they need from Medicare policies they get extra services from these supplemental policies.  People who don’t know about the changes, but use Medigap insurance, should be aware of some basic benefits changes that happened June 1^st, 2010.

Starting with policies eff ective on or aft er June 1, 2010, Hospice Part A coinsurance (outpatient prescription drug and inpatient respite care coinsurance) will be covered. Plan K will cover 50% of the costs and Plan L will cover 75% of these costs.  This may not be important to you, or it could be a massive change from what you did have covered.

When these changes happen to your Medicare or Medigap policies you need to reevaluate what you have covered.  You can contact someone in a local Medicare office or consult a health insurance company that offers Medigap policies.  If you are unsure if these changes affect you it is only important to consult with someone who would know.