The Medicare Supplement Plans as it is known are supplementary insurance plans that are meant to bridge the gap between the policy coverage of the Original Medicare and the actual medical bill payable. The fact is that the Original Medicare has several gaps that don’t pay for all the medical services that you may need. Therefore if you are already a beneficiary of the Original Medicare plan you may need to get a Medicare Supplement Plan along with it to meet all your medical costs. This is a kind of health insurance plan that helps you pay for some of your costs in the original Medicare and also for some of the cost for some medical aid that it does not cover.

Medicare Supplement Plans are those supplementary insurance plans that are meant to cover the gaps left aside by the Original Medicare. These plans are sold and administered by the private insurance companies only. These plans pays for those extra expenses that are not covered under the Original Medicare plans. As these plans bridge the gap between the actual medical cost payable and the Medicare coverage, for that reason these plans are also known as the Medigap policies.

The fact is that there are twelve Medicare Supplement Plans which are available in the market are meant to bear the costs that are not the part of your Original Medicare policy. These Medicare Supplement Plans are named as A through L respectively and each of these policies have their own set of coverage benefits. These Medicare Supplement Plans are sold and completely administered by the private health insurance companies only. As stated earlier that each of the Medigap policies has their own set policy coverage therefore while choosing your Medicare Supplement Plans you should be very much careful that you choose the appropriate one meeting your needs. In this context it should be mentioned that the Medicare Part A policy is considered as the most basic plan and therefore whatever Medigap plan you may choose the basic benefits of the Medicare part A plan should be included in that. The Medicare Supplement Plans were standardized in 1992. And since then the plans almost remained the same. But in June 1, 2010, two new plans, M and N are going to be introduced as standardized Medigap policies. These two plans are meant to provide lower premium alternative to the existing Medicare supplement plans.


However, it should always be kept in mind that the Medicare Supplement Plans are only supplement plans and cannot be sold independently. And therefore to get enrolled for a Medicare Supplement Plan you must first have an Original Medicare policy at hand. And to get the maximum benefits and cost reductions in premium payable the best thing to do is to get enrolled for a Medigap plan within thirty day of getting your Original Medicare plan. But along with that it is also to be mentioned that the Medicare Supplement Plans does not work with any other Medicare policies other than the Original Medicare. Therefore if you switch over to the Medicare Advantage plan from your Original Medicare policy you cannot use your Medigap plans unless you switch back to Original Medicare.