Understanding Medigap Insurance Fundamentals

By Author: William Richards
Total Articles: 366
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Medigap insurance plan covers the gap remains unattended by normal Medicare plans. In other way it is the substitute health insurance plan, which covers the gap of medicare care plans and it is always wise to purchase a Medigap insurance plan in accordance to existing Medicare Insurance plan.
The name Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans Plan rightly explains the purpose of this policy. The Medigap Insurance plan gets activated with existing rights and protection of existing insurance policy plan.

The rules and regulation of Medigap policy is regulated by State and Federal Laws but these policies different insurance providers which are called Medicare Supplement Insurance Companies.

Purchasing a Medigap Insurance plan needs meticulous planning. The best period for purchasing Medigap policy is the open enrollment period which lasts for six months. It starts from the first day of the month in which an intended purchaser
a)gets 65 year old, or older
b)already enrolled with Medicare B plan

Once ...
... the six month long open enrollment period gets started, the Medigap policy cannot be changed; however, there are specific situation when it is allowed to purchase a Medigap insurance plan beyond the open enrollment period. In some of the US states, there is provision for purchase of Medigap policy at less than 65- year age.

It is important to know the eligibility criteria for purchasing a Medicare Supplement plan because the eligibility criteria of purchasing a Medigap policy are entirely different. The minimum eligibility criteria are

a)The applicant must be the resident of an Us state where Medigap policy plans are available
b)Due and existing enrollment in Medicare Part A and B
c)Age is one of a great criteria for purchasing Medigap plan; in most of the US states eligibility age for Medigap plan is 65 years or under 65 years for physically challenged persons and secondary stage of renal failure patients.
d)Specific medical history of patient may fetch qualification for acceptance of a Medicare Supplement insurance plan; however rules for enrollment due to medical history may vary from one state to another.

Medigap policy holders should get some positive guarantee against their Medigap policies; these guarantee factors remain constant irrespective of the health status of the concerned policy holders and the termination of their health coverage.
In the following situations the Medigap health insurance plans remain active.
a)The policy holders may move outside of their plan's network
b)Consumer has decided to leave the plan as it failed to meet the contractual liabilities.
c)The medicare and the medicare cost plan stopped contributing in Medicare plan or has stopped for a particular area
d)Due to some reason the service provider company has stopped continuation of their Medigap policies
e)The policy holder leaves the policy within one year of his policy term

People who qualify for the guarantee issue generally get a 63-day coverage time to apply or renew their Medigap insurance plan; during these 63 days the insurance company by law is liable to cover all pre-existing conditions and is liable to issue a new policy based on the pre-issued rates and with prevailed conditions, irrespective of any kind of adverse physical condition of the policy holder. The guarantee issue application is always to be submitted with the termination notice with the application.

For the best choice of Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plans its better to compare Medicare Plans in which the California Medigap Plans can prove to be the best ones.