In order to qualify for Medicare you must be 65 or older, under 65 with specific disabilities or any age with End-Stage Renal Disease. The gaps are somethings that Medicare might not cover. Co-payments, deductibles of Medicare covered services and coinsurance are some areas Michigan Medigap can help cover your portion. Medigap covers some costs the Original Medicare Plan will not.
Part A covers things like nursing facilities, inpatient hospital care, hospices, and home health care if certain criteria are met. Part B assists in covering necessary medical services like outpatient care and doctor service in which Part A does not cover like occupational and physical therapists, and some home health. Part B also partially covers some preventative services to help maintain good health and to keep some illnesses from progressing. Part C (Michigan Medicare Advantage Plans) these private insurers like PPOs and HMOs offer Part A, Part B, and occasionally Part D coverage to enrollees. Part D (Michigan Medicare prescription drug coverage) helps cover prescription drug costs.
You need to be enrolled in Medicare Part A and B in most cases when buying a Michigan Medigap policy. So you will still have to pay the monthly dues on Part B, along with the premium on the insurance. Any insurance company that is licensed in Michigan can sell you a policy and help you enroll. Policies are always renewable. Your policy cannot be canceled as long as you pay the monthly payments. New policies are not allowed to cover prescription drugs even though some of the old policies sometimes did. For prescription drug coverage you will want to join Part D which is a Prescription Drug plan, private companies offer this plan and it is approved by Medicare.
The best time to buy a Michigan Medigap policy is during your Medigap open enrollment period. This period lasts for 6 months and begins on the first day of the month in which you are both age 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B. During this period, an insurance company cant use medical underwriting. This means it cant refuse to sell you any Medigap policy it sells, make you wait for coverage to start, or charge you more for a Medigap policy because of your health problems. While the insurance company cant make you wait for your coverage to start, it may be able to make you wait for coverage of a pre-existing condition. A pre-existing condition is a health problem you have before the date a new insurance policy starts. In some cases, the Medigap insurance company can refuse to cover your out-of-pocket costs for health problems for up to 6 months. This is called a “pre-existing condition waiting period.” If you have a pre-existing condition and you buy a Michigan Medigap policy during your Medigap open enrollment period and if you recently had creditable health coverage, the insurance company must shorten or eliminate this waiting period. There are many types of Michigan health care coverage that may count as creditable coverage for Medigap policies, but they will only count if you didnt have a break in coverage. A break in coverage means you are without any creditable health coverage for more than 63 days in a row.
It is important to understand your Medigap open enrollment period. During your Medigap open enrollment period you can buy any Medigap policy the company sells. If you apply for coverage outside of your Medigap open enrollment period, there is no guarantee that an insurance company will sell you a Medigap policy unless you are eligible for other reasons, and even then your choices will most likely be limited. Also, after your Medigap open enrollment period ends, Medigap insurance companies are allowed to use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept your application and how much to charge you for the Medigap policy.
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