What is Medigap insurance?

Medigap insurance is a name given to a type of healthcare insurance sold in the United States. It is intended for people who receive health coverage under the Medicare scheme. Medigap is a privately-provided scheme which covers costs which are not paid by Medicare. For example, as Medicare now pays some of the costs of prescription drugs, Medigap plans for new customers today do not include prescription drug coverage. Medigap is not available to people who receive Medicaid coverage. There are twelve standard Medigap insurance plans, known as "Medigap Plan A" through "Medigap Plan L." Plan A is the most basic and simply covers the co-payments you would normally pay yourself on any Medicare-funded healthcare, plus three pints of blood each year. Plan J is the most comprehensive and includes costs such as recovery at home and medical emergencies suffered overseas. Plans K and L work differently to the rest as you will usually pay lower premiums but be responsible for costs up to a fixed ...  more

Do I need it? A. Medicare supplemental insurance is not part of the Medicare program. It is private insurance you can purchase separately, for an additional premium, to cover some of your out-of-pocket costs in Medicare. That’s why it’s often called “medigap.” You can buy one of 12 standardized medigap policies. Each policy is labeled with a letter of the alphabet—A through L—and offers a different range of benefits from the others. For example, plan J (which has the most benefits) pays the full cost of the Medicare Part A hospital deductible and copayments, the Part B deductible and copays for doctors and other outpatient services, plus all or part of the costs of a few services that Medicare doesn’t cover. The greater the number of benefits, the more expensive the plan usually is. Each of these policies is sold by many insurance companies at widely varying premiums. The premium amount depends on where you live, the type of policy and the insurer you choose. Over time, it also ...  more

Medigap insurance is health insurance available to seniors that will supplement their Medicare policies. Its main purpose is to fill-in the gaps that Medicare leaves. Medigap policies are very flexible. They can be tailored to meet individual needs. Depending on your needs, medigap insurance can be written to cover deductibles, prescriptions, and long term hospital care. If you purchase medigap insurance, your insurance provider will send you an Explanation of Benefits to prove that it paid its portion of your claims for your health benefits. When choosing a medigap insurance policy, it is sometimes best to choose an issue-age or community-rated policy rather than an attained-age one. Issue-age and community-rated policies are usually a little more expensive but you won't have to worry about rates increasing every year. Also, if you are not in good health, you may have a tough time switching to another policy years later if the steadily rising price gets too high. Medigap insurance ...  more

Medigap insurance policies are sold by private insurance companies and are designed to supplement Medicare. There are 10 Medigap policies labeled A through J. Since policies with the same letter designation are required by federal law to provide the same benefits, they are easily comparable. In other words, no matter what company sells the policy, all Medigap A policies cover the same set of services, all Medigap B polices cover the same set of services, etc. When purchasing Medigap insurance shop around. Policies offering the same benefits can vary greatly in price. In addition, you want a policy that truly supplements Medicare. One that will pay that portion of the bill not covered by Medicare as well as cover some additional health services not provided by Medicare. For example, some Medigap policies provide limited prescription drug coverage, a benefit not provided by Medicare. However, policies that provide benefits over and above those covered by Medicare tend to be more ...  more