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Traditional Medicare provides basic health insurance, but this protection is not enough to cover all costs related to hospital or doctor's visits. For this reason many Medicare beneficiaries have chosen to add additional protection by a Medicare Supplemental Insurance or a Medicare Advantage Plan instead of depending on Original Medicare.
Original Medicare Part A covers you in the hospital, but not entirely. You will have out of pocket costs: a deductible and a copayment. There is a maximum number of days that you can be covered in the hospital before all of the costs have to come out of your pocket. If all you have is Part A and Medicare Part B, you will may have to open your wallet if you need hospital care. In 2011, the Medicare hospital deductible will be $1,132. You won't have other expenses unless you are in the hospital more then 60 days. If you stay longer, you will have to pay $283 a day for the next 30 days in the hospital. If you are there longer than that during one benefit period, you will start using your lifetime reserve days. You will $566 a day to pay while you are using your lifetime reserve days. After you have exhausted your lifetime reserve days, you will be responsible for all expenses.
Medicare Advantage plans insure doctor's visits. However, you will have a deductible to pay. You will have coinsurance to pay as well.The new amount for physician visits is $162 in 2011. You will incur medical expenses for 20% of expenses in excess of the deductible up to the amount that Medicare approves. You may also be responsible for any amount that your doctor charges that are in excess of what Medicare approves.
Two things that even a combination of Part A and Part b won't cover well are Prescription drugs and long term care. Drugs received in the hospital are part of the hospital insurance. There is a very limited amount of insurance provided by Medicare for long term care. You can get insurance for most of the health expenses that you might incur by purchasing Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage Plan) and Medicare Part D, or a Medicare Advantage plan that includes prescription drugs, or a Medicare Supplement policy plus Medicare Part D.
Medicare Advantage plans are very popular insurance policies today, because an Medicare Advantage policy can be nearly all inclusive. It won't cover long-term care, but it can give you much better insurance than Original Medicare alone. Much of the costs that you would have to pay if you were on traditional Medicare only will be eliminated. The same is true in the doctor's office. However, you need to use health care providers that are inside of the network for any non emergency treatment.
Many Advantage Plan contracts cover also prescription drugs. Some do not, but you can purchase a standalone prescription drug plan (Part D). A Medicare Part D policy can dramatically reduce your expenses for prescriptions.
Prescription drug insurance is however no longer included in Medicare Supplement plans, therefore you have to get a separate Part D plan if you select Supplemental Insurance. Medicare Supplement insurance policies when combined with Original Medicare and a Prescription drug policy can also cover you in a nearly comprehensive way. Although the coverage in a nursing home is not covered, you can get excellent coverage for doctor visits, inpatient treatments and for prescription drugs with this combination.
Author Resource:-
Visit Medicare Supplement Plans to find an affordable Medicare insurance plan that fits your needs.
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