Only 10% of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries in the United States rely solely on the program for their healthcare needs.

The rest have some sort of supplemental coverage to help with medical expenses. 

Are you one of the 90% who needs something more? Keep reading to find out more about Medicare Supplement Plans in Florida and Medicare Plan K in particular?

What Is a Supplement Plan?

Supplement plans, also known as Medigap plans, fill in where Medicare leaves off when it comes to paying your medical expenses. To understand the need for supplemental plans, you need to know what Medicare coverage does and doesn’t include.

Medicare consists of two main parts, Part A and B, known as original Medicare. 

Medicare Part A covers:

• Inpatient hospital stays
• Nursing facility care
• Some types of home health care

Part B pays for:

• Extra doctor’s services
• Certain medical supplies
• Outpatient care
• Preventive care

What’s more, Original Medicare only pays around 80% of the bills incurred for these expenses. You’re responsible for the rest unless you have supplemental insurance.

Types of Medicare Supplemental Insurance

Medigap plans usually cover some or all the costs of your deductibles as well as any coinsurance costs. Some supplemental plans also pay for medical care while you’re traveling outside your usual coverage zone.

There were originally 10 different types of supplemental Medicare insurance policies, labeled according to letters of the alphabet, namely, A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. 

You can buy Medicare supplemental plans from private insurers although federal and state regulations dictate the minimum that each plan offers. None of the plans include dental care, vision care, long-term care, hearing aids, private-duty nursing, or eyeglasses.  

Some of the Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans pay for these extra services. 

Private insurers sell Medigap policies subject to these basic rules. They aren’t bound to offer all the varieties of Medigap plans to their clients.  

What Is Medicare Plan K?

Medicare supplement plan K stands out among the available options because it offers a favorable annual out-of-pocket limit.  This limits how much you’ll spend on additional medical costs during the year.

The limit for 2021 is $6,220 and Medicare plan K also offers low premiums so you don’t end up paying for the extra care you don’t need.

These are all the things that this supplemental insurance covers:

• 100% of Part A coinsurance and hospital costs for 365 days after you exhaust your Medicare benefits
• 50% of your Part A deductible
• 50% of your Part A coinsurance or co-payment for hospice care
• 50% of the cost for blood transfusion up to three pints
• 50% of the coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• 50% of Part B co-payments or coinsurance

It’s a good choice for people who experience high healthcare costs due to chronic health issues or those who want to avoid the huge costs associated with an unexpected and expensive medical emergency. 

Supplement Plan K doesn’t pay for:

• Part B excess charges
• The Part B deductible
• Medical care in foreign countries
• Outpatient and retail prescription medications

If you’re looking for a Medicare plan that pays for medicines, you should consider a Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage plan that includes prescription medication coverage.  

When Can You Sign up for Supplemental Plans?

It’s best to sign up for your chosen Medigap plan during your initial enrolment period. This period stretches from three months before your 65th birthday until three months afterward. 

As a reminder to sign up, you should receive your Medicare card in the post at the beginning of this time frame.

During the initial enrolment phase you can sign up for Medicare Parts A and B, Medicare Part C, and Medicare Part D plans too.

You’ll have a guaranteed right to sign up for any Medicare policy at this time. If you miss it, you might need to pay extra costs if you have pre-existing medical conditions. You might be liable for a late enrolment fee too.  

If you want to switch plans you should do so during your 30-day review period. Otherwise, you might face the same restrictions and fees.

Should you lose your medical insurance coverage for reasons beyond your control, you have 63 days to sign up for a Medicare or Medigap plan. 

If you want to buy supplemental insurance outside any of these time frames, you’ll probably need to fill in some paperwork related to your health first. 

Things to Know About Medicare Supplement Plans

There are a few more things you need to know about Medigap before you sign up. If you already have a Medicare Advantage plan, you can’t buy supplemental insurance as well.

You must have Medicare Part A and B already before you sign up for Medigap.

The most important thing to consider when finding health insurance coverage is the ongoing cost of it. It makes sense to compare your premium costs for supplemental insurance against how much you’re likely to pay out-of-pocket every year.

Sometimes supplemental plans actually end up saving you money when you do the math. 

Insurers use one of three payment structures when setting up their premium prices:

• Community rate premiums are the same for all members
• Attain-age rated premiums increase as you age
• Issue-age-rated premiums charge a different rate according to your age when signing up

These rates increase according to the inflation rate every year, so keep this in mind from the start. 

Making Great Health Choices

We hope you found these tips on choosing the ideal Medicare Plan K supplemental insurance helpful. Health insurance is an important consideration as you age, but it’s more important to stay as healthy as you can for as long as you can.

Our website has many lifestyle tips and tricks to help you do just that. Keep browsing for more.