Are Medicare Supplement Plans Worth It? Here’s Everything You Need to Know…
Senior citizens make up over 13% of the United States population and are projected to make up as much as 20% of the population by the year 2060.
That growth of seniors in our country means that more and more people are asking questions about Medicare, what it covers, and whether or not Medicare supplement plans are worth investing in.
Chances are you already know what Medicare is, but for the uninitiated…Medicare is a single-payer insurance program provided by the United States government that helps cover senior’s and other special party’s healthcare costs.
What many people don’t know is that Medicare is not free.
So then, are Medicare supplement plans worth it?
As you’ll see below, the answer for many is yes.
What is a Medicare Supplement Plan?
A Medicare supplement plan is an insurance policy that helps fill in the gaps in your Medicare coverage.
What gaps are there in your coverage? As it turns out, a lot.
For example, most Medicare recipients pay expensive deductibles and 20% of their outpatient care expenses. Furthermore, Medicare has no deductible ceiling.
That means if your medical expenses are high during a certain year, you’ll keep paying out of pocket as you receive treatment.
People who have previously asked themselves, “Are Medicare supplement plans worth it?” have come to find that they love keeping their Medicare-related expenses in check with supplement plans since it lets them have predictable healthcare costs as opposed to volatile expenses.
A Comprehensive List of Medicare Supplement Plan Benefits
In case you’re still not convinced of the value a Medicare supplement plan can bring to your life, here are some of the top benefits people cite as supplement plan holders:
1. Protection Against Healthcare Cost Surges
As we’ve mentioned, the primary benefit of Medicare supplement plans is that they cover your Medicare-related experiences.
That means you can budget a concise amount of money each month for your medical costs without having to worry about getting sick one month and needing to dip deeper into your savings for treatment.
2. Many Medical Supplement Plans Have Ceilings
One of the worst aspects of Medicare is that there is no ceiling as to how much you can pay in deductibles during any given year.
Not only do Medicare supplement plans cover endless Medicare deductibles, but supplement plans also have ceilings.
That means after you’ve paid into your supplement plan up to a certain amount, it will continue to cover your Medicare expenses without asking you for any additional constitutions.
3. International Coverage
Did you know that Medicare doesn’t cover health and injury-related expenses that occur outside of the United States? That means you can never take a vacation or travel without worrying about facing a health issue.
With Medicare supplemental insurance, a good policy will fill in those Medicare international travel gaps so you can feel safe no matter where you go.
4. Guaranteed Acceptance During Open Enrollment
With most insurance policies, insurers can deny you coverage or charge you more based on your health situation. With a Medicare supplement insurance plan, insurers need to accept you and can’t raise costs based on your condition so long as you enroll during your open enrollment window.
Open enrollment for Medicare supplement plans is open for 6 months from when you turn 65 years old.
5. Plans Are Always Renewable
Even if your health takes a turn for the worst, a Medicare supplement insurer can’t cancel your plan so long as you’re keeping up with your premiums.
That means you can be sure that your plan will always renew at the end each calendar year without any issue.
6. You’ll Have Options
There’s no such thing one size fits all when it comes to health. That’s why Medicare supplement plans offer a variety of different coverage options to make sure you get all of the care you need and pay for none of the care you don’t.
The more comprehensive your plan is, the higher your monthly premiums will be but if you don’t need much in the way of Medicare expense help, you can also save by picking a less comprehensive insurance policy.
7. The Freedom to Try
When you have a Medicare supplement plan, there may come a time when you want to try another policy on for size. It could be that another policy is cheaper or that you’re interested in doing business with a more reputable provider.
With most Medicare supplement plans comes a “free look” contingency.
Free look contingencies enable supplement plan buyers to switch to a new policy, try it for 30 days, and then opt to either keep or revert back to their old policy without penalty during that period.
That means that you never have to feel trapped in the Medicare supplement policy you initially sign on to.
Wrapping Up Are Medicare Supplement Plans Worth It? Everything You Need to Know…
As you can see above, we are big-time proponents of investing in a Medicare supplement plan. At the end of the day, as you grow old, most people will be on a fixed income and have unpredictable health needs.
To make sure you’re always taken care of and to never have to worry about losing massive portions of your savings to illness, answer yes to the question of, “Are Medicare supplement plans worth it?”.
Start researching what supplement plans are out there and good luck finding the perfect plan for your unique needs!
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