Texas Medicare Supplement

Medicare is a Health Insurance Program geared towards people 65 years and older, people with disabilities under the age of 65, and those with End-Stage Renal Disease (kidney failure that requires dialysis or a kidney transplant).

There are many different types of Medicare and finding the right plan can be confusing. Here’s a quick run-down of the most popular plans:

Part A comprises Hospital Insurance, and most people do not need to pay for it. Part B on the other hand comprises Medical Insurance, which people pay for monthly.

The Original Medicare Plan is available throughout the United States and is the plan most people are on. You can go to any doctor, hospital, or specialist that accepts the plan. You might need a supplemental policy to work in conjunction with your policy.

The Medicare Managed Care Plan on the other hand is approved by Medicare but run by private companies. It’s an HMO or PPO plan, and usually you have a restricted list of doctors, hospitals, or specialists covered by your policy. On the Managed Care Plan your deductibles might be lower than on the Original Medicare Plan, and it fills in a lot of the holes that Medigap would otherwise cover.

Lastly, there is the new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, created as a supplemental plan to help people finance their medication needs in conjunction with their Original Medicare Plan. If all these different options confuse you, you’re not alone. Medicare is so big and complex; it should have its own zip code. When lost, the government website is a tremendous resource that you can tap. Talk to knowledgeable friends and family or a healthcare consultant.

Things to know, beyond Parts A and B

Before embarking on a Medicare plan, it’s important to understand Medicare’s controversial history. Exploring the beginnings of any institution of which you’ll be a part will help you to grasp its present situation.

It began as a great effort on the part of the US government to provide seniors and people with disabilities affordable health coverage. The program initially faced resistance due to allegations of it being a too communistic approach. The issue of health insurance has always been a sticky subject in American politics. Many other countries seem to provide more extensive coverage plans than the US. Regardless of the debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965, and Medicare was said to cover a whopping 42.3 million people in 2004.

It would take a book to describe the endless criticisms it has faced since its inception. The most recent controversy revolves around the Prescription Drug Plan, or Plan D. Critics argue that Plan D is too expensive for the US government and too confusing for most seniors. Some even claim that it was created to boost revenues for pharmaceutical companies rather than help seniors afford prescription medication.

Added to that is the present controversy behind Medicare Fraud. In 1998, the United States General Accounting Office reported $12.6 billion dollars in loss due to Medicare Fraud in the form of billing for services not performed, or billing for equipment and services more expensive than they actually are. There are also cases of phantom patients and aggressive marketing to get seniors to purchase procedures and equipment they do not need. All these schemes make for higher deductibles and premiums for paying Medicare members.

These are only the recent problems. There are many more. Get as much information as you can before beginning a Medicare Plan. Contact a healthcare agent or do your own research online so that you fully understand the healthcare matrix you’re being dropped into. The more informed you are, the easier you can brave the storm.

If you need help selecting a texas medicare supplement insurance policy and would like to review plans, please do not hesitate to contact me today.

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Tags: end stage renal disease, health insurance, Medicare Sites

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 2:02 am and is filed under Web Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.