Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans

Why You Need a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan

Medicare is a federal program to help older Americans and some disabled Americans pay for the high cost of health care. However, Medicare was never intended to cover all your health care costs. So even if you’re covered by Medicare, you are still responsible for a large portion of your health care costs. That’s where a BCBS Medicare Supplement or senior Medicare Supplement Plan can help.

What Medicare Doesn’t Cover

Medicare does not cover all incurred health care costs. Medicare coverage consists of:

Part A (which covers hospital and skilled nursing facility care), and;

Part B (which covers doctor bills and other medical expenses).

Even with Medicare Part A and Part B coverage, you’re responsible for some out-of-pocket expenses including:

(Here are the 2023 deductibles):

Part A hospital deductible ($1,600)

Part B deductible ($226)

Copayments for hospital stays over 60 days

Care in a skilled nursing facility after 20 days

Twenty percent coinsurance for doctor bills and other medical expenses

Medicare supplement plans pay for additional expenses. By law, Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans are standardized into twelve plans. That means Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan F* from one company must include the same benefits as the same plan from another company. While the benefits must be the same, each company’s rates, reputation, membership features, and quality of service can vary. With Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, you don’t have to sacrifice comprehensive benefits or freedom of choice for affordability.

Benefits

Guaranteed acceptance with no health questions asked

Freedom to choose any doctors or specialists

Coverage with domestic travel

Guaranteed renewability regardless of changes in your health

Coverage guaranteed to match Medicare’s cost increases year after year

Blue Extras Member Discount Program includes discounts on wellness products and services including vision, fitness clubs, weight management, complementary alternative medicine, hearing, and more.

 

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan Basic Benefits

Hospitalization

Part A coinsurance plus coverage for 365 additional days after Medicare benefits end.

Medical Expenses

Part B coinsurance (generally 20% of Medicare-approved expenses), or in the case of hospital outpatient department services under a prospective payment system, applicable copayments.

Blood

First three pints of blood each year.

Premier Plans

Of all available standardized plans, Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans F and Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan G* offer the most complete protection for uncovered Medicare Part B excess charges. These are the most popular plans because they also pay the Medicare Part A hospital deductible and copayments, skilled nursing facility copayment, and foreign travel emergency care.

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan F also covers the Medicare Part B deductible.

Budget-Conscious Plans

Medicare Supplement Insurance High Deductible Plan F*

Features a $2,700  annual deductible (2023) before plan benefits begin

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan N*

Features an office visit and emergency room copayment applicable to each visit

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan K* and Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan L*

Feature cost-sharing for covered services under Medicare Part A and Part B. Once your annual out-of-pocket expenses reach the required limit, the plan pays 100% of covered expenses for the remainder of the calendar year.

Medicare Supplement Plan F and High Deductible Plan F are only available to those individuals who turned 65 before January 1, 2020.

Part B Medical Excess

Part B Medical Excess covers charges from your provider that exceed Medicare-approved amounts. Only Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan F, Medicare Supplement Insurance High Deductible Plan F, and Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan G cover these charges. For all other plans, you are responsible for paying excess charges. In no case can a provider charge more than 115% of the Medicare-approved amount.

Skilled nursing coinsurance

Medicare pays the first 20 days of treatment in a skilled nursing facility, and an annually adjusted per diem for the 21st through 100th day. Plans with this benefit pay an additional annually adjusted per diem for the 21st through the 100th day.

In order to receive any skilled nursing facility benefits, you must meet Medicare’s requirements:

You were admitted to a hospital for at least three days

You were admitted to a Medicare-approved skilled nursing facility within 30 days of leaving the hospital.

Foreign Travel Emergency

Medically necessary, foreign travel emergency care services begin during the first 60 days of each trip outside of the United States. All plans offering this benefit require you to pay a foreign travel emergency deductible and a percentage of costs after the deductible is met.

Preventive Care

Preventive Care covers some annual physical and preventive tests and services administered or ordered by your doctor when not covered by Medicare.

Reduced Premium Medicare Select Option

Med-Select Options

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan F and Plan N Med-Select options offer you the same solid benefits as the “standard” plans but cost less. You save on premiums simply by agreeing to use any of the Med-Select participating hospitals for non-emergency elective admissions. If you do not use one of these hospitals for your non-emergency admissions, you pay the $1,600 Part A deductible. Med-Select is not an HMO. With Med-Select, you are fully covered for emergency care at any hospital, and you can choose your own doctors and specialists.

Med-Select is available in specific geographic areas only. You must live within a 30-mile radius of a Med-Select participating hospital.

 

Get a Quote

 

Benefits Medicare
does not pay in 2023
Expenses covered by our plans
Plan A Plan F High Deductible
Plan F
Plan N*
                     Part A (Hospital Services)**
$1,600 Medicare
hospital deductible
$400 per day
copayment for
covered expenses for
days 61-90 in the hospital
$800 per day
copayment for
covered expenses
while you use your
Lifetime Reserve
100% of Medicare
allowable expenses
for additional 365 days
after Medicare
hospital benefits stop
completely
Calendar year blood
deductible (charges
for the first three pints of
blood)
$200.00 per day for
days 21-100 in a
skilled nursing facility
Hospice care
(Medicare Part A)
                                            Part B (Physician’s Care and Medical Services)
$226 Part B deductible
Coinsurance for
medical expenses
(25% of Medicare
approved amount for
preventive services
and 20% for the most
others)
Generally 20%
except up to $20
copayment for
office visit and
up to $50 ER
100% of Medicare Part
B excess charges
(above Medicare
approved amounts)
Coinsurance for
durable medical
equipment (20% of
Medicare-approved
amounts)
                                         Additional Expenses Not Covered by Medicare
Benefits for medically
necessary emergency
care received in a
foreign country

 

* Plan F also has an option called a high-deductible Plan F. This high-deductible plan pays the same or offers the same benefits as Plan F after one has paid a calendar year $2,700 deductible. Benefits from high-deductible Plan F will not begin until out-of-pocket expenses are $2,700. Out-of-pocket expenses for this deductible are expenses that would ordinarily be paid by the policy. These expenses include the Medicare deductibles for Part A and Part B but do not include the plan’s separate foreign travel emergency deductible.

** Hospital benefits must be provided by facilities participating in Medicare. Payments are limited to the reasonable charge as determined by Medicare.

*** After 90 days of hospitalization, Medicare benefits are paid from a one-time lifetime reserve of 60 additional days (days 91-150) which are not renewable for each benefit period. See your Outline of Coverage for details and limitations of these benefits.

† After the $226 Part B deductible is met for Plans A, F, High Deductible Plan F, and Plan N.

†† Foreign Travel Emergency covered at 80% after the first $250 each is paid each calendar year; up to $ 50,000-lifetime maximum.

*Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or Federal Medicare Program