Medigap Plans
As of 2020 more people choose to go with a Medigap plan versus a Medicare Advantage plan.
Some of the reason Medigap plans are so popular are for the following reasons:
- Flexibility to choose any Doctor or Hospital who accepts Original Medicare
- Does not want to be told your procedure is Not Covered by an insurance carrier when Medicare would say you are covered
- You want your Doctor to decide what is Medically necessary not the medical group or carrier.
- Seeking predictable insurance cost
- No referrals required to see a specialist
- No referral to obtain a medically necessary medical procedure
- Predictable out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare-covered services
- Nationwide coverage – you can use it anywhere in the United States
- Guaranteed renewability – the insurance company can never drop you or change your coverage due to a health condition
- More choices for your Medicare Part D coverage (not locked into a single plan option picked by the Advantage plan)
We find that many consumers who are not heavy users of their health insurance don’t fully understand the value Original Medicare with a Medigap plan brings to them.
For these individuals, they will usually opt for a Medicare Advantage plan. Many of these plans come at a very low cost meaning no monthly premiums.
It is not until later when the Medicare beneficiary who signed up for their Medicare Advantage plan discovers how the plan actually works or doesn’t work as they believed. When the Medicare beneficiary finally has a major medical need that requires multiple doctors or specialty treatment facilities, they discover they have limited options available to them based on the medical network they signed up for.
For those individuals that are actively using their health insurance they can find it very difficult to transition from an employer based health insurance plan to Medicare as they can’t find a Medicare Advantage plan that covers all of their must have Doctors. Unless their Agent tells them there is another option they will typically settle for a new Doctor which can bring on a whole new set of issues.
Medigap Caution
Before you take the plunge into obtaining a Medigap plan you should know more about them. For instance what are the main reasons people do not stick with Original Medicare and obtain the Medigap policy to fill in the gaps left behind by Original Medicare.
Following are some of the reasons we have found for people not wanting a Medicare Supplement / Medigap plan.
- People do not ask a Independent Medicare Insurance Agent for help
- The Insurance Agent only sells Medicare Advantage plans, so they didn’t explain the differences between Original Medicare with a Medigap plan and a Medicare Advantage plan
- People call a Medicare Insurance Carrier up on the phone and they ONLY offer Medicare Advantage Plans so you don’t know there are other options
- Medicare is confusing so I will go with a Medicare Advantage Plan as they bundle everything up for me
- My family member has a Medicare Advantage plan
- I don’t understand all of the different Medigap plans and I don’t know which one to choose (Plan F, Plan A, Plan C, Plan G, Plan N)
- I can’t afford the monthly cost of purchasing the Medicare Supplement plan
- I am concerned how much my premium will increases from year to year (Typical increases are around 1% to 4% just like your Part B premium)
- The cost of purchasing a separate Part D coverage verses it being included at no additional cost in the Advantage plan
- Cost of Dental and Vision coverage
- Medicare Supplement plans don’t include all of the value added services like free meals when I come out of the Hospital
These are some of the most common reasons we have found for people choosing a Medicare Advantage plan over Original Medicare with a Supplement plan. What we find interesting is we have yet to find a person who has told us they were with Original Medicare with a Supplement and their procedure was denied. Or they had to wait a month for approval to get their pre-authorization. Or they had to fight with their insurance company over a bill they were refusing to pay. It usually comes down to the cost or I simply didn’t know or I didn’t understand how this all worked.
We are here to help
We love our job because we get to help people. This past week we helped someone obtain a Medicare Advantage plan because they believed that was their best option. We also helped someone else obtain a Medicare Supplement plan as they felt this was their best option. We presented both options to these individuals and we helped them make the best decision for themselves. Each picked a different option that they could afford and that worked for them. It is our goal to help you fully understand all of your options that are available to you so you can make an informed decision.
Give us a call or complete our online request form so we can help you make the right decision. 562-735-3553 x1
