{"id":527,"date":"2020-06-27T00:58:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T00:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derendingerins.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2025-12-30T22:16:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T06:16:52","slug":"do-you-really-need-medigap-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/2020\/06\/27\/do-you-really-need-medigap-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Need Medigap Insurance?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you really need Medigap (Medicare Supplement) Insurance?\u00a0 <\/span>What is the worst-case financial exposure<\/a> for those who rely solely on Medicare Part A and Part B?\u00a0 <\/span>Many Californians are surprised to learn traditional or original Medicare does not have out of pocket limits. \u00a0Yet, this type of protection is common with employer-sponsored insurance. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Do Californians really need Medigap (Medicare Supplement) Insurance?”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before looking closer at your potential financial out of pocket<\/a>, let\u2019s be clear on the terms we are using:\u00a0 <\/span>Medigap (Medicare Supplement Insurance) is not Original Medicare; rather it is private insurance that supplements<\/strong> Original Medicare benefits, such as Part A and Part B. OK, let\u2019s continue\u2026<\/p>\n

Assuming an average copayment of 20% for Part B expenses, you could face large financial liability, should you experience surgical work for Cancer, Cardiac, Hip, Knee etc. i.e. services that are not uncommon for individuals over 65.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe short answer is yes, you do need Medigap (Medicare Supplement) insurance. \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yet, your financial exposure could be far worse:\u00a0 <\/span>The preceding paragraph made no mention of your copayment responsibility under Medicare Part A, should you experience hospitalization or skilled nursing services.<\/p>\n

For example, Medicare grants each beneficiary a specified number of Hospital Days per lifetime.<\/p>\n

\"Newsletter<\/a>

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p><\/div>\n

Hospital Days also have significant copayments (see example here<\/b><\/a>), paid by you.\u00a0 <\/span>A Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy can add 365 additional days to the 60 day lifetime limit. \u00a0<\/span>In summary, Medigap is offered by private insurance companies to supplement the Original Medicare program.\u00a0 <\/span>If you purchase it when turning 65, the cost is relatively inexpensive, sometimes costing less than what the government charges<\/a> for Part B.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Never pay more than you have to<\/a> for Medigap.\u00a0 <\/span>It is wise to use an independent agent<\/a> to research the most important questions<\/a> to ask about medigap, including comparing several plans at once, saving you time.\u00a0 <\/span>Good to know:\u00a0 <\/span>You pay the same monthly premium using an independent agent<\/a>, as you would purchasing directly from the insurer.\u00a0 <\/span>So why take a chance of paying more?<\/a><\/p>\n

Request your free Chat with a local, independent agent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you really need Medigap (Medicare Supplement) Insurance?\u00a0 What is the worst-case financial exposure for those who rely solely on Medicare Part A and Part B?\u00a0 Many Californians are surprised to learn traditional or original Medicare does not have out of pocket limits. \u00a0Yet, this type of protection is common with employer-sponsored insurance. \u00a0 “Do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medicare-supplement-insurance","tag-medigap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peaKIx-8v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3121,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions\/3121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derendingerins.com\/medicarehealthplans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}