Medigap Options

Medicare is a national health insurance program offered to senior citizens in the United States. There are several parts to Medicare, including Parts A and B, Medicare Advantage and Part D. These plans cover in-patient and outpatient hospital services, home health care, hospice benefits and prescription drugs. Medicare Advantage may also provide dental and vision insurance. But many people purchase additional insurance that works with Medicare in order to fill in the services not provided. These are called Medigap policies, which are offered through private companies and can vary from state to state.

Basic Plans

• Medigap Plans A, B, C and D offer basic services. All four cover coinsurance hospital costs for an extra 365 days after regular Medicare benefits stop. They all also provide Medicare Part B coinsurance co-payments, the first three pints of blood per year and the coinsurance for Medicare Part B preventive care. Only C and D offer to cover the co-insurance for skilled nursing facility care and foreign travel emergency services. C alone pays for the Medicare Part B deductible and D alone offers benefits for at-home recovery.

More Comprehensive Plans

• Standard Medigap plans E, H, I and J, which offered more benefits than the basic plans, were discontinued in 2010. Other plans remain that bundle all the benefits of the basic plans. Plans F and G include all services from Plans A through D, although only G includes at-home recovery and only F includes coverage of the Medicare Part B deductible.

Plans M and N

• In 2010, two new plans were introduced, called M and N. Plan M offers the basic core services but only covers 50 percent of the Medicare Part A deductible for in-patient hospital care, and it does not cover the Part B deductible at all. Plan M does add foreign travel emergency benefits. Plan N provides core benefits and 100 percent coverage of the Part A in-patient deductible but does not cover Part B's. Plan N has co-payments for visits to the doctor's office and emergency room visits as well.

High-Deductible Plans

• Plan F is also offered as a high-deductible plan. This allows customers to pay lower monthly premiums, but they must then pay for costs up to a certain amount out of their own pockets before Medicare benefits take over. In 2010, the deductible for Plan F was $2,100 per year. Plans K and L also have yearly out-of-pocket limits of $4,620 and $2,310, respectively. Plan K Medicare benefits only cover 50 percent of the Medicare Part B co-insurance, the first three pints of blood, hospice care co-insurance and co-payments and the Medicare Part A deductible, while Plan L covers 75 percent.