Medicare Supplement Plan J - The Truth About “grandfathering”

By Author: Mark Simpson
Total Articles: 23
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Insurance agents and company representatives across the country are telling people who have Medicare Supplement Plan J they will be "??grandfathered in"?? if they purchase Medicare Supplement Plan J before June 1st, 2010. This implies they will be entitled to the same benefits and will have the same price, which couldn"??t be farther from the truth. People who have Medicare Supplement Plan J will not always have the same price, and their benefits will be cut.

What is happening? Medicare is eliminating two benefits from all Medicare Supplement Plans, which are "??At Home Recovery"?? and "??Preventive Care"??. At Home Recovery was a benefit that covered $40 for forty days of care at home and preventive care was an annual $125 benefit. With the elimination of these two benefits Medicare is being forced to eliminate Medicare Supplement Plans E, H, I, and J. The reason these plans are being eliminated is because they would be redundant with other plans that are already offered. For example, with the elimination of these two benefits, Medicare Supplement Plan J and Medicare Supplement Plan F will be exactly the same, which ...
... is why Plan J is being eliminated.

Why is it happening? Medicare is eliminating these two benefits because they were rarely used by Medicare recipients. Medicare must approve all expenses and benefits and they almost never approved the At Home Recovery Benefit, rendering it useless. The preventive care benefit will be eliminated because doctors code things like annual physicals as routine visits instead of preventive care. Most preventive care visits will still be covered, especially with the addition of the new health care reform bill just signed into law by President Obama.

Can you keep these benefits if you have Plan J? No, you can not keep these benefits if you keep Plan J because Medicare is eliminating the benefits and will not approve the expenses. Medicare Supplement Plans are secondary in nature with Medicare being your primary insurance. If Medicare doesn"??t pay, then your Medicare Supplement Plan will not pick up the remaining cost. The only thing that will be grandfathered if you have Plan J will be the name "??Plan J". Other than the name, you will have the exact same benefits and Medicare Supplement Plan F.

What happens if you have Plan J? If you have plan J, you can keep it if you like or you can switch to another Medicare supplement Plan and try to save money. If you wish to switch to one of the new Medicare Supplement Plans such as Plan N or Plan M, you may qualify for a guaranteed issue period which means you will not have to answer any health questions and will be accepted into the new plan regardless of any pre-existing health conditions. However, if you wish to keep a comprehensive plan such as Medicare Supplement Plan F, you will be required to answer a series of easy health questions prior to being approved. However, if you are in good health you will likely be able to save lot of money.

Medicare Supplement Plans are very important for seniors regardless of whether they are in great health or have several health issues as we can never anticipate when anyone may need medical or hospital services. This can be an excellent time to compare all plans and companies to make sure you have a good comprehensive plan and are getting the best price available. Consulting an expert can make this process very easy and can answer all your questions within a few minutes.