Texas Medicare Supplemental Insurance Information
Medicare Supplemental Insurance, commonly referred to as MediGap, is an insurance program that helps to cover medical services that Medicare fails to cover completely like extended home care, prescriptions, and extended hospital care. There are about ten different MediGap programs that are available, MediGap Plans A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J. Each of these lettered plans covers different types of medical care benefits and situations.
MediGap Plans A is a basic benefit plan.
MediGap Plan B offers basic benefits, as well as supplemental coverage to Medicare Part A’s inpatient hospital deductible.
MediGap Plan C offers everything that Plan B does, as well as offering its customers supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A’s skilled nursing facility co-insurance, Medicare Part B’s deductible, as well as foreign travel emergency health care coverage.
MediGap Plan D offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A’s inadequacies, as well as foreign travel emergency health care coverage and at-home recovery coverage.
MediGap Plan E offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A’s inadequacies, foreign travel emergency health care coverage, and preventative care coverage.
MediGap Plan F offers its recipients basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A’s inadequacies, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part B’s deductibles, foreign travel emergency health care coverage, and 100% coverage of Part B’s excess charges. Plan F has a high-deductible option that is available, which can help to reduce the cost of this comprehensive plan.
MediGap Plan G offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare part A’s inadequacies, foreign travel emergency health care coverage, at-home recovery coverage, and 80% coverage of Medicare Part B’s excess charges.
MediGap Plan H is one of the few supplemental plans that covers prescription drugs. In addition to prescription drug coverage this plan also offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A, and foreign emergency health care coverage.
MediGap Plan I is another prescription drug option that also offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Part A, foreign travel emergency health care coverage, at-home recovery coverage, and 100% coverage of Medicare Part B’s excess charges.
Finally MediGap Plan J offers basic benefits, supplemental coverage for Medicare Parts A and B, foreign travel emergency health care coverage, at-home recovery coverage, 100% coverage of Medicare Part B excess charges, as well as preventive care coverage, and prescription drug coverage. This is another MediGap plan that offers a higher deductible, which can help to lower the monthly premium cost.
The government does not offer these supplemental plans. Instead they need to be purchased from an independent insurance agent. The privatization of these programs makes it imperative for customers to shop around before selecting a MediGap insurance provider as premiums, deductibles, and requirements vary greatly from insurance agency to insurance agency. Also each state has the right to limit how many types of MediGap programs can be sold by private insurance agencies, so not every MediGap plan will be available to residents in every state.
MediGap Information for Texas Residents
Since prices, coverage, and requirements vary from state to state, and insurance company to insurance company, customers should not buy coverage from any company without first conducting a little research to determine which plan is right for their unique situation. In Texas, private insurance companies are allowed to all ten of the original MediGap plans A through J. Additional Texas laws also require insurance companies to offer certain MediGap plans to qualified seniors regardless of their health conditions when they apply for the MediGap program. For more information about these requirements please visit the State of Texas site at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/columns/cc1001.html.
To get help finding the right MediGap provider and plan for specific health and financial situations, Texas seniors will want to contact their local State Health Insurance Assistance Program for help by calling 1-800-252-9240, or 512-424-6840. Texas seniors with Internet access call also visit their website located at http://www.dads.state.tx.us/services/dads_help/aaa/hicap.html for more information. If the information provided by this organization doesn’t answer all of your questions Texas seniors can also find MediGap help by calling the National Medicare Hotline at 1-800-MEDICARE, or by visiting their web site at http://www.medicare.gov.
