Medicare Supplement Plan A is not a very popular choice among people age 65 and older, but all companies supplying Medicare supplements must offer it. You could say Plan A is the stripped-down model, providing basic benefits.
Plan A benefits, which are also offered in the other 12 standard Medicare supplements available, include, among others:
• Co-insurance ($267/day in 2009) for days 61-90 of a hospital stay
• Co-insurance ($534/day in 2009) for hospital stays beyond 90 days, up to an additional 60 days during the insured’s lifetime
• Coverage up to 365 days after use of Medicare hospital inpatient coverage, including lifetime reserve days
• Reasonable cost of the first three pints of blood each year
• Co-insurance (20 percent) for doctor and medical bills under Medicare Part B after payment of the Medicare Part B deductible ($135 in 2009)
• Co-insurance (50 percent) for outpatient mental health services after payment of the deductible
Medicare Supplement Plan B is a lot like Plan A, but there is one significant difference: It covers the Medicare Supplement Part A deductible for hospitalization ($1,068 per benefit period in 2009). But this requires some more explanation.
Usually, medical insurance deductibles are annual. You meet them over the course of a year, and they start all over again the next year. The Medicare Supplement Part A hospitalization deductible is per benefit period. The benefit period begins as soon as you enter the hospital as an inpatient and ends when you’re released and haven’t received skilled care somewhere else for 60 consecutive days. So you could face more than one deductible a year.
