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Medicare
gap coverage
The medicare gap coverage is for the individuals with serious illness
or injury. Consider this, if you're ill or seriously injured, Medicare
won't cover all your expenses. You need to know about the medicare
policies designed to pick up the slack, and here's where the medicare
gap coverage comes in.Even for those who have medicare gap coverage,
a serious illness or injury can cause financial havoc because of
the bills Medicare does not cover. Responding to this risk, about
two-thirds of all Medicare recipients aged 65 or over, buy some
kind of private health coverage - such as medicare gap coverage.
The term Medigap or the medicare gap coverage is derived from the
notion that these insurance policies will cover the gaps in Medicare
payments. Unfortunately, most medicare gap coverage is not nearly
as complete as its advertising would lead you to believe. HMOs and
other managed care plans, an alternative way to cover these gaps,
typically provide broader coverage at slightly lower cost than most
medicare gap coverage policies -- and many people opt for these
forms of coverage instead of medicare gap coverage. However, HMOs
and other managed care plans restrict the doctors and facilities
available to you in ways that most Medigap policies do not.
Before you buy a medicare gap coverage policy, consider not only
the services covered, but also the amount of benefits and the monthly
cost of the policy. Also pay attention to two other factors: how
much premiums may rise in the years to come, and whether you will
be allowed to keep the policy even if you are willing to pay those
premiums.
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Remember that the Medicare coverage consists of two parts--Medicare
Part A (hospital insurance) and Medicare Part B (medical insurance).
A third part, Medicare Part C (Medicare+Choice) is a program that
allows you to choose from several types of health-care plans. Further
a Medicare gap coverage is a part of the federal Medicare program
that provides health insurance to retired individuals, regardless
of their medical condition.
Some basic facts about Medicare you should know, are that the Medicare
supplemental insurance, or "Medigap," is designed to pick up where
Medicare stops. As such, it usually pays the deductibles and co-payments
required by Medicare. Coverage will vary according to the benefits
outlined in each specific policy. Medigap insurance may not pay
for any additional procedures that aren't specifically addressed
by Medicare. Most policies will only help to cover the deductibles
and co-payments imposed by Medicare. Medicare gap coverage provides
only limited coverage for skilled nursing care and pays for only
up to 100 days of care. And Medicare gap coverage doesn't fill the
gaps in this coverage. If you are concerned about meeting your potential
long-term-care needs, you should look into additional coverage to
fill in the gaps. In many cases, it may be best to consider purchasing
a private long-term-care insurance policy to help protect against
these potentially devastating costs.
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