How to Choose a Medigap Plan

Are you 65 years old and wondering how to choose a Medigap plan? Medigap-3002Choosing a Medigap plan is one of the most important decisions you will make as you approach your 65th birthday. There is certainly a lot of information on how to choose a Medigap plan. Your mailbox will be overloaded, your phone will ring out of the hook, and your friends will offer you your (sometimes unsolicited!) tips. It may seem a little overwhelming. However, the process of choosing the right plan is not as difficult as it may seem initially.

First of all, it is important to understand the normalization of plans. Since 1992, the federal government has prepared the standard diagram of the Medigap plan that all companies offering plans must follow. This means that an F plan of a company will provide exactly the same benefits, will work the same way, can be used in the same places, and is completely identical to plan F of a different company.

Understanding this is essential to choosing a Medigap plan and ahead of many people who have benefited from medicare for years and who are paying a “supplement” (no additional benefits) for their plan. This is the next thing to understand when comparing and choosing a Medigap policy. In fact, prices can vary up to 30 -50% for the exact same coverage. Remember, there are no other differences. Some plans are no harder to use than others: Any Medigap plan is accepted anywhere leading to medicare nationally.

All companies pay claims through the medicare crossover system, so there is no variation. How to choose a medigap plan Once you have the basic understanding of the two facts above — the plans are standardized, prices are not — this is the first step to find out how to choose a Medigap plan. From here, you can easily compare the plans in an informed way to make a prudent decision on the Medigap plan best suited to your situation. The first step is to choose a level of diet coverage that you are comfortable.

While your current medical and medical needs play in this choice, you should also make this choice taking into account a far-reaching vision. In most states (exceptions: OR, WA, CA, NY), you must “medically qualify” to make a change in the future after this 6-month initial open registration window to choose a plan. This only means that if you choose the lowest coverage level initially and then develop a pre-existing condition, you may not be able to upgrade to a higher coverage level later. Medigap plans were not part of the Affordable Care Act, which eliminated the inclusion of “pre-existing conditions” on the card for health insurance plans under age 65.

Once you have selected a coverage level that’s right for you, you must compare the Medigap rates for that plan. You can also compare rates for multiple plans (i.e. Plan F and G) to see what the premium differences are and how they relate to differences in coverage. Getting quotes for plans Medigap can send you to an infinite circle of discussions with companies and agents. And rates are not as readily available as they should be.

Medicare.gov has some limited information about the plan and society, but the information on the rate has not been kept well and frankly not accurate. It is always best to get information about Medigap rates from an independent broker. A broker does not work for a particular insurance company; on the contrary, you can provide a list of plans for all businesses that do business in your area so that you can compare very easily and impartially.

In addition to the premium, you should also look at the history of the insurance company — company rating, historical rate stability, etc. — that you should also be able to obtain from a competent broker or agency. If you have any questions about this information or if you would like more information about choosing a Medigap package, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Our site also contains more specific information about the plans, which you can review here:

• Medigap Plan F
• Medigap Plan G
• Medigap Plan N