Have a overview of Medigap Insurance Plan
In united states of America 18% people head for having a medigap plan along with Medicare original plan. Now what exactly is medigap plan in reality? It is not other than a simple policy to cover up all the gaps created by original Medicare plan in order to fill up the gaps those are unattained by the original one such as in hospital bed fee, other secondary fees and expenditures and etc. but one main thing that you have to be remembered is that you can not apply for a medigap insurance plan if you are not having an original Medicare plan. And these plans are solely governed by private bodies. But the rules are common that are to be followed by all insurance companies who will sell the medigap health insurance plans.
If you want to be a part of this health insurance plan to supplement your original Medicare plan then you have to enroll your name in part A and part B of the original Medicare plan. You can obtain a Medigap plan on a guaranteed issue basis during the open enrollment period, which begins within 6 months of turning 65 or enrolling in Medicare Part B at 65 or older.
There are 12 Medigap plans, labeled A through L. Of these plans offered before the 2006 changes took effect, only H, I and J offered prescription drug coverage. The three plans feature a deductible as well as coinsurance to cover 50 percent of the drug benefit. Each of the plans also had a payment cap for the drug benefit, with the J plan’s cap set higher than either H plan or I plan. If you were enrolled in one of these three plans before 2006, you are eligible to keep it. Anyone enrolling in Medigap after 2006 cannot get prescription drug coverage through Medigap.
The Medigap plan A is the most basic plan while plans B-L offers every thing that is in plan A along with some extra coverage for each of them. On the other hand Plans K-L offers service coverage similar to Plans A-J, but the cost sharing for the basic benefits is at different levels. The Medigap plans B through J offers some extra benefits. However there are some people who want to have extra benefits offered by plans B through J and are ready to pay more for them. These plans cover all the basic benefits of Plan A. And along with that they also provide some extra benefits that are much helpful. While Medigap plans A-J also pays for the first three pints of blood you may need each year, which is totally excluded from original Medicare plan. On the other hand Medigap plans B through J also covers the hospital deductibles for each benefit period, which usually saves your money if you need to stay in the hospital.
For skilled nursing home costs it is true that he Original Medicare pays all for the first 20 days of each benefit period.
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