Stay Informed

Medicare Supplement plans are often referred to as “Medigap” because they can fill in gaps in your Medicare coverage.

There are some health care costs that original Medicare simply doesn’t cover, such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. If you have Medicare, you may be surprised how quickly these out-of-pocket expenses can add up.

Indiana Farm Bureau Health Plans’ Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, which open for sign-up Oct. 1, will help pay these expenses and fill in some of the gaps.

“I started getting the best health care of my life after I went on Medicare and then got a Medicare Supplement plan,” said Tom Milligan, who owns a farm in Vermillion County. “Being self-employed, I had to go out and purchase insurance privately. It was expensive – $1,000 per month just for myself – and not very good.

“I had years and years of very poor health care due to very high deductibles until I went on Medicare,” he added.

Unlike Medicare Advantage Plans and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, Medicare Supplements do not have an annual enrollment period. Instead, you get one open enrollment period during which you’re guaranteed acceptance into any Medicare Supplement plan with no health questions asked. This period lasts for six months and begins on the first day of the month in which you are age 65 or older and are enrolled in Medicare Part B.

There are 12 Medicare Supplement plan options standardized by the federal government, but the price varies from company to company, and not every company who offers a Medicare Supplement plan offers all 12. Indiana Farm Bureau Health Plans will offer Medicare Supplement Plans A, D, G and N.

Milligan said that even when the cost of Medicare and his Medicare Supplement are combined, his total cost is only about a third of what he was paying for his private insurance.

Among the basic benefits included in all the Medicare Supplement plans are hospitalization copayments, medical expenses, Medicare preventative care and hospice coinsurance.

Additional benefits available in select Medicare Supplement plans include coverage for hospital deductibles, nursing facility copayments, medical expense deductibles, costs above Medicare-approved amounts and foreign travel emergency care.

When you purchase a Medicare Supplement, you have the freedom to use any doctor, health care provider and hospital that accepts original Medicare. There is no need to worry about networks.