Medicare Supplements
Friday, March 28, 2008

Understanding the complexities of Medicare can be confusing. In today’s 60 Second Housecall, Dr. Ken Davis tells us more about Medicare supplements.

Medicare does not cover all the health care costs for beneficiaries. For help with some of these costs, you can purchase Medicare supplement insurance, or Medigap plans.

The government has approved 10 standardized policies to help you compare them more easily, and each has a different set of benefits. Some policies even cover the cost of prescriptions. Of course, the more benefits you receive, the more you will pay for your premium or deductible. Any Medigap policy may be sold as a Medicare select policy, meaning that it covers only certain hospitals or physicians, except in the case of an emergency.

For people covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, Medicaid will cover most of the deductible and co-pays, and even provide some prescription drug benefits.

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program can help with buying a Medigap policy or other Medicare questions. They can be reached at 1-800-948-3090.

For North Mississippi Medical Center, I’m Dr. Ken Davis