Upon reaching the golden years seniors have many great things to look forward to. Hopefully you have saved a great deal of money, kept up with your health, and you’re ready to make all those dreams come true.
If you have money but your health is poor at least you will have the benefit of Medicare to help pay your medical expenses. Most people realize that Medicare doesn’t pay all of their bills however, and they look to a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance policy to help pay the difference. These policies are offered by private insurance companies and were developed to cover the “gaps”, or expenses in Medicare.
While several insurance carriers offer Medigap plans in the United States, they all have the exact same coverage. Finding which plan to fit your needs and budget takes a little homework, but it’s not at all difficult. Stating which plan is best however, really is hard to do as everyone has a different situation at hand.
For example, you might be healthy and visit your doctor rarely. Or you may have a number of pre-existing conditions that require you to see your doctor or specialist several times per year. In this case a different plan might be more suitable than one with more limited coverage. That is why there is no “best plan”, although out of the ten Medicare Supplement plans that are available the best “choices” really only come down to three different plans.
Without a doubt Medicare Supplement Plan F is by far and away the most popular plan for people on Medicare Part A and Part B. The reason it’s so very popular is that this plan covers 100 percent of the gaps in Medicare Part A and Part B. For a relatively low monthly premium you can simply show your Medicare card and your Medigap Plan F card to any doctor, specialist, or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, get treatment, and go home with no bills. Not bad coverage huh? Yes this plan is the most expensive, but for many people who are coming off employer health care and used to deductibles along with getting 80 or 90 percent coverage this plan is usually far cheaper with substantially better coverage.
It’s easy to say that this is the best plan because it covers the most, and it many cases you will likely end up on a Plan F anyway. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea to also look into Medigap Plans G and N to compare coverage. Regardless of which plan you choose, be sure to shop around and get rates from all the top companies. You could end up paying a lot more just by choosing the wrong company.
One example of how seniors can get hit by unexpected cash, out of pocket, medical expenses is the trick many health care offices are using to get more cash from each patient. Too often patients are required to return to the same office more than once, with a co-pay due on each visitation. There is often no real reason for the patient to be required to return a second or third time. This is especially true as often everything could have been handled in one visit. Thus the senior citizen patient incurs extra co-pay expense plus the time, trouble and money it takes to make extra visits that really could have been avoided. Medicap insurance is one way to help mitigate these unexpected expenses that Medicare part A will not cover in full, or in some cases at all.
Proper nutrition is essential in making the body healthy and active at all times. Having a healthy diet would entail eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables and avoiding processed foods. Moreover, unhealthy beverages like alcohol should be avoided.
Medicare Parts A and B or Original Medicare help cover many of your health expenses, but it was never designed to pay all your healthcare costs. Most people supplement Original Medicare with secondary insurance. These secondary health insurance policies are referred to as Supplemental Insurance Plans or Medigap Policies. They’re sold through private insurance companies and they’ll protect you against uncovered, unexpected medical expenses, costs that could drain your retirement funds.
Perry’s opinion is that Medicaid is a broken system and needs reform before it can grow. Many other states, including Arizona, Florida, and New Jersey are in favor of expanding Medicaid. Many people feel that Medicaid and it’s system is completely unsustainable, however if Texas does not buy in to the Medicaid expansion it could result in billions of dollars of extra costs due to those emergency room visits for the common cold from people with no health insurance. With Hispanics making up a very large portion of the population in Texas, as well as the uninsured, not expanding Medicaid could have major implications to the state’s future demographic. With Perry’s recent visits to California to recruit businesses and offer tax incentives to move to Texas, he’s obviously taken steps in the right direction to keep the Texas economy healthy. Helping on some front with health care for the workers of jobs that come along with this expansion will be a major hurdle that must be tackled.
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