Texas Medicare Supplement Options

For those who are soon turning age 65, you are likely to be researching your options for Medicare health care coverage. In doing so, you will find that there are two primary options for obtaining this important health insurance.

One option is to go with the Original Medicare. Here, you will be able to receive Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B. With Medicare Part A, various hospitalization services are covered, including certain inpatient procedures. Part B of Medicare covers doctors’ services, as well as some hospital outpatient services, and other miscellaneous care.

The other option for receiving Medicare coverage, Medicare Advantage, is also referred to as Medicare Part C. With this Medicare option, you have numerous choices of health care plans. Many of these are set up in a similar manner to an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) or PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) where enrollees need to choose their providers and health care facilities from a network. The tradeoff, however, is that there are typically many more services that are covered in comparison to Original Medicare, such as dental and vision care. The premiums that are charged for Medicare Part C may also be less.

Filling in the Gaps That Medicare Leaves Behind

For those who choose Medicare Advantage, there are several items covered about health and wellness. And, while there may be some out-of-pocket charges, these will typically differ from one plan to another.

Those who opt for Original Medicare (Medicare Parts A and B), however, will usually run into a fair amount of out-of-pocket costs. This is especially the case if the enrollee encounters many doctor visits or several hospital stays throughout the calendar year.

Both Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B will require various deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance amounts – and in certain instances these charges can almost make care cost prohibitive for the enrollee. In these cases, or for those who simply wish to keep their health care costs down, there is Medicare Supplement insurance.

Medicare Supplement insurance is a type of coverage that was designed specifically to fill in the “gaps” in Medicare’s coverage. For this reason, this coverage is oftentimes referred to as “Medigap” insurance.

When you own a Medicare Supplement insurance policy, you will have coverage that will pick up the various deductibles, coinsurance, and copays that Medicare requires. Depending on the Medigap plan that is chosen, there are also other benefits that may be covered, such as payments for Medicare’s skilled nursing home facility coinsurance, coverage for foreign travel emergencies, and other various options.

Choosing the Right Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan in Texas

Today, there are ten Texas Medicare Supplement insurance plans. Each of these offers a standardized set of benefits. Each of these plans are named after a letter of the alphabet – beginning with Plan A. This plan provides the most basic set of benefits. Each of the other Medicare Supplement insurance plans must offer the core set of benefit options that is provided in Medigap Plan A.

Although Medicare Supplement insurance plans are regulated by both federal and state laws, these plans are not offered through the United States government or even through the Social Security office, but rather they are sold through private insurance companies. For this reason, the premiums on these plans can differ a great deal.

To be eligible to purchase a Medicare Supplement insurance plan, you must be enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B and you must be age 65. In deciding which Texas Medicare Advantage insurance policy is right for you, there are several questions that you should answer. These should ideally include the following:

• How much do you typically visit your doctor (or doctors) within a given year?
• What is your general state of health?
• Do you currently have (or do you plan to purchase) prescription drug coverage?
• Do you anticipate having any type of major surgery or hospitalization soon?
• Do you or your spouse plan to reside in a skilled nursing facility soon?
• Do you and your spouse participate in frequent foreign travel?

By answering these questions, you will be better able to narrow down which benefits may be most important to you and match them up with the benefits that are offered in the various Medicare Supplement insurance plans.

In addition, you may also determine the best Medigap plan for you based on the premium payment that you are comfortable paying. For example, because Medicare Supplement Plan A provides the least amount of benefits, the premium that is charged for this plan is typically less than some of the other plans. Also, Medicare Supplement Plan F offers a high deductible option whereby there is a deductible that must be met before any benefits will be paid out. However, in return for this, the premium is lower.

By doing a small amount of research, you will soon be able to decide which Medigap plan will be right for you. If, however, you need any additional assistance in walking through plan benefits, we are here to help. We can also assist by answering any questions that you may have regarding plans, insurers that offer these plans, or premiums that are charged on this type of coverage.

How and Where to Purchase Texas Medicare Supplement Insurance Coverage

When searching for Texas Medicare Supplement insurance coverage, it is usually best to work with a company that has access to numerous Medigap carriers. This way you will be able to quickly and easily compare the premium charges for the Medicare Supplement insurance plan or plans that you are interested in.

This is important because even though the benefits in Medicare Supplement insurance plans of the same letter are required to be identical, the premiums that are charged can – and oftentimes do – differ significantly from one insurance company to another. Therefore, researching insurers can save you hundreds of dollars per year – or more – in premium costs.

When you are ready to start comparing Texas Medicare Part D, we can help. We work with the best rated insurers in the market place today and we can get you the Medigap information that you need quickly, without having to set up an in-person meeting with an insurance agent.

If you find that you still have some additional questions regarding Texas Medicare Supplement insurance coverage, Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage, or running Medigap premium quotes, our experts are here to help in answering any of the questions or concerns that you may have. We want to be sure that you have all the information that you need to purchase the plan that best fits you and your Medicare Supplement coverage needs.