June 2010 brings big changes to the menu of Medicare supplemental insurance plans. The biggest alteration will be the elimination of four plans (five if you count the high-deductible Plan J separately) and the addition of two new plans, Plan M and Plan N. There are also changes to other plans’ benefits, but we’ll deal with them in a separate blog post.
4 Plans Out
Going away are plans E, H, I, J and, as mentioned above, the high-deductible Plan J. A brief review of these five plans will help put the eliminations and additions into perspective.
Medicare supplement insurance plans E, H, I and J all include the benefits found in Medicare supplement insurance Plan A. That is, they cover inpatient hospital care; Medicare Part A coinsurance; 365 additional days of care after Medicare coverage ends; medical costs, including Medicare Part B coinsurance; and blood, including the first three pints each year.
Plan E adds skilled nursing facility coinsurance, the Medicare Part A deductible, foreign travel emergency and preventive care not covered by Medicare. Plan H also adds skilled nursing facility coinsurance, the Medicare Part A deductible and foreign travel emergencies, but does not include preventive care.
Plan I offers skilled nursing facility coinsurance, the Medicare Part A deductible, Medicare Part B excess charges (100 percent), foreign travel emergencies and at-home recovery, but does not offer preventive care. Plan J has all the benefits of Part I and also includes the Medicare Part B deductible and preventive care.
2 Plans In
The new Plan M will include all the benefits of Medicare supplement insurance Plan A, just as its predecessors have. In addition, Plan M will cover half of the Medicare Part A deductible and a portion of the cost of foreign travel emergencies.
Coverage under the new Medicare supplement insurance Plan N will include the Plan A benefits, except it will require a $20 co-payment for office visits and a $50 co-payment for emergency room visits. Also covered are foreign travel emergencies and the Medicare Part A deductible.
The reasoning behind these changes has to do with streamlining the plans and getting rid of benefits that are seldom used, such as preventive care and at-home recovery. However, all Medicare supplement insurance plans will include a hospice care benefit beginning in June.
Most experts in the field of Medigap insurance agree that these changes are both necessary and beneficial to consumers. The potential savings in out-of-pocket costs and the valuable new benefits will make Medicare supplement insurance plans M and N popular choices in the marketplace.
For more information, talk to one of the experts at Richardt Insurance, and be sure to ask for a Medicare supplement insurance quote.
