The current list of Medicare supplement plan letters to choose from can make it seem like quite a confusing situation. The last revision of these choices went in to effect on June 1, 2010. The current plan letter choices in most states are – Plan A, B, C, D, F, High Deductible F, K, L, M, N. You can click on the link below for a chart that shows the specifics of these plans:
Medicare Supplement Plan Chart – 6-1-2010 And After
OK, so . . . the Good News is it’s really not that complicated because in the real world there are only three different plan letters that you need to know about. The only Medicare supplement plan letters we ever recommend are Plan F , Plan G and Plan N. These are all good plans that will provide you with additional secondary protection at a good value.
How They Are The Same – Plan F, Plan G and Plan N all work exactly the same if you are receiving Part A medical care. If you are admitted to a hospital or other similar facility, these plans will all pay your Part A deductible, your daily co-payments and any other expenses not fully covered by Medicare. You are covered 100% on all of these plans in regards to a stay in the hospital. That is good news!
How They Are The Different – Plan F, Plan G and Plan N are different in the way your medical bills will be covered in regards to Part B medical care you receive.
Plan F – This is referred to as a first dollar coverage plan. This means that if you have a Plan F Medicare supplement plan, it will pay for your Part A deductible, your Part B deductible, your 20% co-payments and any other medical charges not covered completely by Part A or Part B of Medicare. This is a popular plan. This is very good coverage, but it is also the most expensive plan.
Plan G – Plan G is very similar to Plan F. The only difference is that on Plan G, the insured is responsible to satisfy the once per year Part B deductible, which is $233 for the year 2022. Both plans cover you 100% for a hospital stay. Both will pay for the 20% co-payments. Once you pay for the first $233 of Part B medical care each year, Plan G works just like a Plan F for the rest of the year. We actually very often will recommend Plan G to our customers. This is because in many cases, when we compare the monthly premium of a Plan F to a Plan G, the price difference is enough of a savings on the Plan G to make it clearly a better value.
Plan N – Plan N is the least expensive Medicare supplement plan. Again, 100% protection for a stay in the hospital. The plan N is similar to Plan G in that it also requires the insured to be responsible for the annual Part B deductible of $233. The reason why Plan N is less expensive is because, AFTER the Part B deductible has been paid, there are two possible occasions where the insured could incur a small cost sharing payment, kind of like a co-payment.
The first situation would be if you have a standard visit to a doctor. If the doctor sends a claim to Medicare that is coded as a doctor office service fee, Medicare will pay 80% of this amount. The insured is responsible for 20% of this amount, on a sliding scale, but with a maximum amount of $20. Our customers who have a Plan N, tell us that that they pay somewhere between $15 to $20 for a visit to their doctor.
The second situation where there may be an out of pocket payment for a person with a Plan N would be a visit to a hospital emergency room. If a visit to a hospital emergency is not followed by an admission to the hospital, the insured could have a cost sharing payment, but with a maximum of $50. For some individuals who are healthy and trying to limit their insurance premiums costs, choosing a Medicare supplement Plan N can be a very good option to consider.
