Long-Term Care And Medigap
What is Medigap?
Medigap is a term for supplement policies you can get on top of your regular Medicare. These are usually administrated by private insurance companies and they can cover a variety of services that are not fully covered by Medicare or that are covered by Medicare. Onscreen Text: Medigap is a private insurance policy that covers “gaps” in Medicare coverage.
Who is eligible for Medigap?
I think virtually anybody that has medicare can purchase this Medigap coverage. You can get it through AARP or things like that, just by virtue being an older person who joined an organization. I think its ten dollars a year or something like that. Also these are things that can be obtained through your previous employer possibly through a variety of otheragencies or organizations that you might join. So I think almost anybody that had Medicare can get this coverage it's just a matter of whether its going to be cost effective for you.
What does Medigap cover?
A lot of times, Medigap coverage would do things like help you to pay for your co-pays. For example, if you have a twenty percent co-pay on nursing home care after the first twenty days. That might be pretty expensive, that might be $150 a day or something like that, and your Medigap policy might well step in and cover all or part of that. For prescriptions, it could be the same situation, where they'll cover part of your prescriptions. Hospital care is not covered at a hundred percent, so they would cover your co-pay, or part of your co-pay. Those would be the typical things that a Medigap policy would be helpful for.
How much does Medigap cost?
Medigap policies, depending on how you get them or how you qualify for them, have a variety of fee structures, and it also depends on exactly how good the coverage is. It could be anywhere from ten to twenty dollars a month, or in some circumstances it costs nothing because it's part of your retirement package. Other policies may be as expensive as a couple of hundred dollars a month, depending on how much you want to get covered. The insurance industry has a variety of different products available.
How do I know if I need Medigap insurance?
That largely depends on your own circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. If you find that your out-of-pocket costs are high, even with your regular Medicare and any other coverage that you might have, then that may be a circumstance where it is worth it to pay the insurance. If you are expecting to have something like a big elective surgery where there is going to be a prolonged convalescent period, that might be a good circumstance in which to consider purchasing it.
Who sells Medigap?
I believe that there are a whole lot of agencies that sell it. A lot of the regular health insurance companies have products. AARP has a product, and I would say that probably just doing an internet search would be one good way, or contacting an insurance agent or broker that would be more familiar with these products.
