Your Medicare Community - MedicareFAQ

Medicare Advantage VS Medicare Supplement

August 04, 2022 MedicareFAQ
Your Medicare Community - MedicareFAQ
Medicare Advantage VS Medicare Supplement
Show Notes Transcript

In this video, we compare Medicare Advantage and  Medicare Supplement Plans side by side to allow you to choose the best plan for your needs.

Once you have enrolled in Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B, have two options. To enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan or a Medicare Advantage plan. Keep in mind, you cannot enroll in both.

Option one includes enrolling in a Medicare Supplement plan and a Medicare Part D plan. Original Medicare does not include prescription drug coverage. That's why you'll want to add a standalone Medicare Part D plan. In addition, you'll want to enroll in a Medicare Supplement Plan, also known as Medigap. This plan will cover additional out-of-pocket costs that you're responsible for paying.  Medicare Supplement plans were specifically designed to fill in the gaps in coverage from original Medicare. This includes coinsurance and deductibles depending on the plan you enroll in. Medicare Supplement plans literally supplement your Original Medicare benefits. 

Option two would be to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan. Now, it's important to remember that Medicare Advantage is not the same as Original Medicare. These are managed health care plans that are offered through private insurance companies. Medicare Advantage plans do tend to have lower monthly premiums when compared to Medicare Supplement plans. In addition, some may come with ancillary benefits like dental and vision coverage. Most also include prescription drug coverage. Due to the low or zero-dollar monthly premium, you will have to pay more out-of-pocket as you use the benefits When compared to Original Medicare and a Medicare supplement plan, Medicare Advantage plans come with many limitations. These include a limited network of doctors, coverage that will not travel with you, and you need a referral to see a specialist.
 
Visit MedicareFAQ.com to learn more about Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Supplement plans.
https://www.medicarefaq.com/faqs/medi...

We CARE about your Medicare

Join Our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Medic...
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn notifications on!
https://www.youtube.com/c/Medicarefaq

Are you looking to add additional coverage to supplement your Original Medicare benefits? Do you know that you can choose between a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Supplement plan? Today, we're going to compare both plan options side by side so that you can make the best decision for your health care coverage. Hi. I'm Stacy Crayder. the Medicare expert for Elite Insurance Partners and MedicareFAQ.com. When you are new to Medicare, you have the option to enroll in Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B. Medicare Part A is your hospital coverage and Medicare Part B is your doctor's coverage or medical coverage. Now there are still many out-of-pocket costs when it comes to Part A and Part B. These include a deductible, copays and coinsurance. You can enroll in supplemental coverage to help you to cover some of these costs. You have 2 options for supplemental coverage. You can enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan and Medicare Part D, or you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Option 1 includes enrolling in a Medicare Supplement plan and a Medicare Part D plan. Original Medicare does not include prescription drug coverage. That's why you'll want to add a standalone Medicare Part D plan. In addition, you'll want to enroll in a Medicare supplement plan, also known as Medigap. This plan will cover additional out-of- pocket costs that you're responsible to pay. Medicare Supplement plans were specifically designed to fill in the gaps in coverage from Original Medicare. This includes coinsurance and deductibles depending on the plan you enroll in. Medicare supplement plans literally supplement your Original Medicare benefits. Medicare Supplement plans are attractive to many Medicare beneficiaries because they come with very little out-of-pocket costs. All you must worry about is paying your monthly premium. Depending on the letter plan you choose, you can have all your cost sharing completely covered at 100%. There are many benefits that come with Medicare Supplement plans. A few of them include a large doctor network, benefits to travel with you nationwide, and you don't need a referral to see a specialist. Option 2 would be to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Now it's important to remember that Medicare Advantage is not the same as Original Medicare. These are managed health care plans that are offered through private insurance companies. Medicare Advantage plans do tend to have lower monthly premiums when compared to Medicare Supplement plans. In addition, some may come with ancillary benefits, like dental and vision coverage. Most also include prescription drug coverage. Due to the low or $0 monthly premium, you will have to pay more out-of-pocket as you use the benefits. When compared to Original Medicare and a Medicare Supplement plan, Medicare Advantage Plans come with many limitations. These include a limited network of doctors, coverage that will not travel with you, and you need a referral to see a specialist. Now we'll go over 3 things that you should consider when deciding between a Medicare Advantage plan and a Medicare Supplement plan. The first one is budget. Now if you're unable to afford the monthly premiums for Medicare Supplement plan, enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan is a good option. However, if you'd rather pay more money upfront in the form of monthly premiums for a Medicare Supplement plan and have more predictable out-of-pocket costs as you use the benefits than a Medicare Supplement plan will be the better option for you. The second thing to consider is your medical usage. Do you visit the doctor often? Do you have multiple doctors? With Medicare Advantage, you're going to have a copay and possibly coinsurance every time you see a doctor. With Medicare Supplement plan, there are no co payments, your coinsurance is covered, and you won't have to worry if your doctor is included in plan's network since 96% of doctors nationwide accept Original Medicare. Again, with Medicare Advantage, you have a very limited network. So if you happen to see 2 or 3 doctors, you may find that only 1 or 2 of them is actually in your plan's network. The third thing to consider is if you travel often. With Medicare Advantage plans, they will not travel with you. Some are even restricted by county. If you cross county lines, you may find that you're not going to have many doctors that are in the planned network. with Medicare Supplement plans, your coverage will travel with you nationwide. The last thing I want to point out is that if you choose to enroll and a Medicare Advantage plan, please consider that you may never be able to enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan if you want to do so later. This is because for most, you only get a one time Open Enrollment period to enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan. This enrollment period will only last 6 months. and it will begin the first of the month after your Medicare Part B effective date. During your Open Enrollment period, you can enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan without having to answer any health questions, and you're guaranteed to be accepted. Otherwise, if you decide to enroll in a Medicare Supplement plan outside of this enrollment period, you may be required to answer underwriting health questions, which could result in denial of a policy for you. If you need help deciding between a Medicare Advantage and a Medicare Supplement plan, give us a call. Our agents can compare them side by side and show you all the available options in your area. I hope you found this video helpfull. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Make sure notifications are turned on so that you're notified each time we upload a new video. We also have a great Medicare community on Facebook. We'll make sure to include a link below so you can join. Until next time. Bye.