What Medicare Plans Are the Same in Minnesota and in Florida?

Medicare is a health insurance system managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Standard Medicare comes in four parts, and there are also several kinds of Medicare supplement plans. Individual states are allowed to choose which Medigap supplements can be offered in their states, so not all are available in each state. Minnesota and Florida are far apart in a geographical sense, but they offer many of the same Medicare and Medigap benefits.

Medicare Parts A and B

• Medicare Part A is also sometimes called traditional Medicare, and Medicare A and B can be referred to as original Medicare. Medicare A and B are administered by the federal government and offer standardized benefits in every state. Residents of both Minnesota and Florida can get Part A and Part B. Part A is hospital coverage and includes inpatient services and hospice care. Part A Medicare is usually offered free of charge. Part B covers more preventive care, such as doctor's visits and outpatient hospital services. Part B is not free but requires a premium payment each month. You may opt out of Part B if you so desire, but if you don't sign up for it when you are first eligible and then decide later that you would like it, you might have to pay a late enrollment fee.

Medigap Plan A

• Both Minnesota and Florida offer versions of standard Medigap Plan A. Minnesota calls this the Minnesota Basic Plan. Plan A/Minnesota Basic both cover the cost of the first three pints of blood each year, coinsurance for Medicare Part A and Part B, plus the coinsurance for Part A hospice care. However, Minnesota Basic extends on Part A Medigap by also offering 20 percent coverage for physical therapy, 50 percent of outpatient mental health services and 80 percent of foreign travel emergency medical expenses.

Plan F

• As of June 2010, both Minnesota and Florida offer versions of Medigap Plan F. Plan F features benefits for Medicare Part A coinsurance for up to a full year after the benefits from traditional Medicare expire, Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment, the first three pints of blood, Part A hospice coinsurance or copayment, the coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care, Part A and B deductibles, Part B excess charges, foreign travel emergency medical expenses and coinsurance for Medicare Part B preventive care. Florida and Minnesota residents can purchase Plan F as a high-deductible plan, which means they pay the costs of care up to their deductible amount themselves before Medicare kicks in. Customers may prefer a high-deductible insurance plan because this results in lower monthly premiums.