Jki-phone-handset-light Phlight-envelope-simple

Medicare Supplement Plans

Original Medicare includes Part A (inpatient) and Part B (outpatient) coverage. Part A has a $1,364 deductible per hospital stay (with 60+ days between stays), and Part B has a $185 annual deductible (as of 2019), after which Medicare covers 80% of approved outpatient costs—you pay the remaining 20%. A Medicare Supplement plan can help cover these deductibles and your 20% share.

Medicare Supplement plans offer the most freedom in choosing doctors and facilities.

Part A

Is your inpatient services of Medicare. This is where you are being treated as an inpatient. This could be in a hospital, a skilled nursing facility or in hospice.

You have deductibles to contend with. Under Part A of Medicare, you will pay a $1,36.400 deductible when you are admitted to a hospital. After you pay your deductible, Part A will cover the medically needed services while you are admitted to the hospital.

When you are discharged from the hospital your benefit period ends. If you are admitted as an inpatient to the hospital after 60 days from your discharge, you will pay another $1,364.00 deductible for Part A of Medicare. This will continue throughout the calendar year.

Part B

Under Part B of Medicare, you currently have an annual deductible of $185.00 in 2019. Once you pay your deductible, Medicare will pay 80% of the medical allowable bill. You will owe the remaining 20%. Let’s say you have paid your $185.00 deductible on January 15th. You go to a cardiologist on January 31st for shortness of breath.

The Cardiologist’s bill to Medicare is $350.00. Medicare agrees to pay 80% of the $350.00, which is $280.00. You would owe the remaining 20%, which is $70.00.

You will continue to pay out 20% of all the Medicare allowable bills. That can get quite costly.

Medicare Supplement Plan

A Medicare Supplement Plan can pay most your deductibles and cost share (20%) that you owe. Some Medicare Supplement Plans will pay all of the deductibles, cost share, and co-pays. You will pay a premium to the Private Insurance company and they in turn will pay your share of the cost.
Medicare Supplement Plans are standardized. This means whether you reside in California, New York or Oklahoma, your benefits under the Medicare Supplement Plan you choose, is exactly the same in each of those States.
  • The benefit for visiting the cardiologist under a Medicare Supplement Plan “F” is exactly the same in California, North Dakota, and Florida. The premium you pay for your Medicare Supplement Plan is very different in each State.
  • Premiums for Medicare Supplement Plans vary from State to State. They may vary from county to county in a State.
Medicare Supplement Plans give you the most freedom in your choices of doctors and facilities. With a Medicare Supplement Plan, you can see any physician, go to any facility, as long as they are contracted with Medicare. You are not required to get referrals to specialists under a Medicare Supplement Plan. Just pick the specialist you want to see and call them to find out if they are contracted with Medicare. If they are, (most physicians are) make your appointment and you’re done.
Schedule a Consultation

When my clients are on the plan that fits their lifestyle, they're free to enjoy life and I sleep great at night!

Diane Daniels

The Medicare Survival Guide to – Medicare Supplement Plan

The chart below shows basic information about the different benefits Medicare Supplement policies cover.
  • Yes = the plan covers 100% of this benefit
  • No = the policy doesn’t cover that benefit
  • % = the plan covers that percentage of this benefit
  • N/A = not applicable

Schedule a Consultation with Diane Daniels