Medicare Supplement plans (also called Medigap) are additional insurance that you can buy from a private insurance company to pay for your healthcare costs not covered in the original Medicare plan. These healthcare costs include copayments and even deductibles.
People can apply for Medicare Supplement plans Texas if they are 65 years old or over and enrolled in Medicare Part A, which helps pay for hospital services and Part B, which covers the cost for doctor services.
What Medicare Supplement Plans Do Not Cover
Medicare Supplement Plans don’t cover long-term care, dental care, vision care, hearing aids, eyeglasses, and private duty nursing. Most plans don’t cover prescription drugs.
What Medical Supplement Plans Cover
Medicare does not cover all the costs associated with health care services. Fortunately for you Medicare Supplement pans Texas are there to take care of the following nine medical expenses:
. Coinsurance and hospital costs up to one year after Medicare benefits have been exhausted
. Blood transfusions of three pints of blood
. Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
. Out of pocket limit
. Medicare Part A deductible
. Medicare Part B deductible
. Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment
. Part B excess charge, which is the difference between the amount the doctor or healthcare provider can legally charge and the Medicare-approved amount
. Medical expenses incurred while traveling outside the US
If you have Medicare Part A and Part B, there are ten Medicare Supplement plans that are available to you. The plans are labelled-A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. The plan benefits vary but all of them provide coverage for coinsurance and hospital costs for up to one year after you have used up your Medicare benefits.
Let us now examine each plan.
Plan A
This is the most basic Medicare Supplement plan. It provides coverage for Part B coinsurance or copayment, blood transfusions, and hospice care coinsurance and copayment.
Medicare Supplement plan A policyholders have to pay their Medicare Part A and Part B deductibles. They must also pay for skilled nursing facility care coinsurance, Part B excess charges, and foreign travel emergency medical costs. This plan is ideal for people who do not want to pay costly premiums for benefits that they might never use.
Plan B
Medicare Supplement plan B provides the same coverages as Plan A but includes Medicare Part A deductible coverage.
Plan C
This plan provides the same coverage as Part B but also includes Part B deductible coverage and foreign travel emergency coverage up to 80%.
Plan D
Includes the same coverages as Plan C but does not provide Medicare Part B deductible coverage.
Plan F
This plan also provides the same coverages as Plan C but includes Medicare Part B excess charge coverage.
Plan G
This plan is similar to Plan F but does not provide Medicare Part B deductible coverage.
Plan K
Plan K covers up to 50% of Part B coinsurance or copayment, blood transfusions, Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment, skilled nursing facility care coinsurance, and Part A deductibles. It does not cover Part B deductibles, excess charges, or foreign travel emergency costs and has an out of the pocket limit of $5,240.
Plan L
This plan covers up to 75% of Part B coinsurance or copayment, blood transfusions, Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment, skilled nursing facility care coinsurance, and Part A deductibles. It does not cover Part B deductibles, excess charges or foreign travel emergency costs and has an out of the pocket limit of $2,640.
Plan M
This plan provides the same coverage as Plan D but only provides 50% of Part A deductibles.
Plan N
Plan N benefits are similar to Plan D. Under Medicare Supplement plan N, 100% of Medicare Part B coinsurance costs are covered except up to $20 copayment for office visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits.
If you have not become eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, you won’t be able to buy Medicare Supplement plans C or F. These plans are being phased out. But if you already have these plans then you can keep it.
So have you opted for Medicare Supplement plans in Texas yet?