Hospital Indemnity Plan good idea?
Medicare Advantage Coverage Gaps
Almost all Medicare Advantage plans have a few major gaps that expose people to large medical bills.
- What are those gaps?
- How can you protect yourself from them?
- Is it really something you should worry about it?
It’s useful to know the gaps, that way you can decide if it’s worth paying about a dollar a day to help protect yourself or not.
The way we can help reduce your risks is by using a hospital indemnity plan in addition to your Medicare Advantage plan.
A hospital indemnity plan is a popular choice for a lot of people to help cover some of the gaps with a Medicare Advantage plan. So what are some of the gaps and how does a hospital indemnity plan help?
Hospital Copay
Most Medicare Advantage plans have a daily copay you are responsible for paying if you are admitted to the hospital. The amount varies by plan but in general it’s normally a $300-$400 copay per day. And you pay this copay each day for around a week.
So if you are admitted for 7 days, it could be $300 (daily copay) X 7 (days admitted) = $2,100 medical bill.
The question you need to be able to answer is “are you able to pay $2,100 all at once if you are admitted to the hospital?”
If the answer is yes, then you may not need a hospital indemnity plan.
But if the you’re not sure or the answer is no, then it’s a good idea to get yourself a hospital indemnity plan to help protect yourself from that bill.
But that’s not all. There’s 2 more key gaps to consider.
Cancer Treatments
Medications administered by a medical professional are often billed to Medicare Part B. So what does that mean?
Most advantage plans charge you 20% of the cost for medications billed to Part B. Chemo is one of the most common types that is billed to part B.
And chemo is not cheap. Sometimes the total amount is over $12,000 for just one month.
The good news is your Medicare Advantage plan should have a maximum out of pocket. A maximum out of pocket is what you could end up paying in covered medical bills before the insurance company takes over and covers you 100%.
The bad news is that amount can be as high as $7,550 in 2021. So you need to be prepared to pay that amount in medical bills should the worst case scenario like a cancer diagnosis happen.
Hospital indemnity plans can help protect you from being forced to come up with that much money on your own.
Skilled Nursing Facility Copays
Most Medicare Advantage plans cover 100 days per period of skilled nursing facility stays which is the same as Original Medicare.
This can vary by plan, but in general, most advantage plans cover 100% of a skilled nursing facility stay during the first 20 days.
After that, it’s common to see a copay of around $180 starting on day 21. This often is charged EACH DAY for days 21-100. That is 80 days of potential copays!
Obviously that can add up to a large amount really quickly.
Most people would probably reach their maximum out of pocket for the plan year which can be up to $7,550 in 2021.
Hospital Indemnity + Medicare Advantage?
Many people choose Medicare Advantage plans because of the low or no premiums being so attractive. They are great when you don’t use them. But if you do have to use the coverage, you can end up paying large medical bills.
Hospital indemnity plans help protect you from paying these costs all on your own.
Plus you have the flexibility to tailor coverage how you want it. They are less expensive than most people realize. You could pay $30-$40 each month to help reduce the risk of these large medical costs.
For most people, that gives them much better peace of mind.
To see what options are available for you and how we can tailor coverage for your unique situation:
- Call me at 855-712-7316
- Email me at Mike@askMedicareMike.com
- Click the button below to schedule a call with me
I’ll talk to you soon!
Mike Lovell