Medicare Supplement Insurance Set for a Big Change in June of 2010
May 25, 2009 by Derrick Johnson
Filed under Health Insurance
Medigap or Medigap Insurance are terms often used to refer to Medicare Supplement Insurance. The Original Medicare program has gaps which Medicare Supplement Insurance or Medigap Plans are designed to fill. Medicare Advantage is a separate program and should not be confused with Medigap Insurance.
Medigap plans will be affected by the changes taking place in June of 2010 so you should learn about these changes now.
The new changes in Medigap or Medicare Supplement Insurance were put forth by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The purpose of these new rules was to protect consumers. The new Medicare Supplement changes remove duplicative benefits and add additional coverage.
The current supplemental Medicare plans have been in existence since the early 1990s and have become outdated. Many of the existing plans offered coverage from which the consumer received no benefit. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners NAIC felt that it was time for change.
Following is a list of the new Changes:
1. The plans being eliminated are Plan E, Plan I and Plan J
2. The Home Care benefit will be removed form Plan G and the 80% excess coverage is being incresed to 100%.
3. Two new plans named Plan M and Plan N will be created. These are lower cost co-pay plans.
4. Insurance companies which sell Plan A must also make Plan C and Plan F available.
5. Newly priced plans will be released which must include a standardized hospice benefit.
The new changes do not affect only a certain number of plans. The situation is not what was originally thought. The old plans will no longer be available for sale in addition to the new plans being created.
New pricing will be available by all companies with these new plans. Meaning that companies no longer in the market will most likely get back in. More competition was the plan. Because of the new Hospice benefit all plans must be changed.
The proposed changes are good for consumers aging into Medicare and healthy people already protected by Medicare Supplemental Insurance. What about those unhealthy seniors stuck in the old plans? Because no more of the old plans are being offered, premiums in these plans may greatly increase and unhealthy seniors cant change plans.
Senior should begin researching their available options as soon as possible. A good idea would be to contact their current Medicare Supplement agent or locate a new agent on the Internet. Simply go to Google or Yahoo to find a new agent.
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Now, if you are naive enough to get roped into Universal Health Care provided by the Federal Government you better read up on how screwed up the Fed’s handling of Social Security and Medicare is before you go ranting about how effective Universal Health Care will be!