| By :
Wiley Long
Medicare has some pretty deep holes in its coverage (like a $1,100 deductible for hospitalization), but that means that you can save big by finding alternative insurance that works with Medicare. Medicare Supplemental Insurance (aka a Medigap Plan) pays for what Medicare has left you to pay out of your pocket. How to Sort through Your Choices and Buy Smart There are ten Medigap Plans, which all offer different benefits at different prices. To buy smart, start by making a list of your typical medical expenses for a year. That may take some checking of past bills, but it gives you a good idea of what you are actually spending for healthcare. With that in hand, you can look for Medigap Plans that target the items on your list that typically cost you the most. Another way to save on healthcare is to take advantage of preventive services. Stopping a problem before it gets too large is usually not only cheaper, but a whole lot easier. Once you've found Medigaps Plans that take a bite out of your biggest out-of-pocket medical costs, look for plans that cover preventive services. You're more likely to stay well when you're watching how well you're doing. Preventive services allow you to catch problems when they are easiest to solve. Determine if the plans you like allow you to access the doctors and hospitals you prefer. If so, you're more likely to keep up with regular checkups. Plans usually have a list of medical providers from which you can choose, so be sure your doctors are on the list. See what, if any, copays apply to visiting doctor offices and emergency rooms. Copays are what you pay, such as $20 for doctor office visits and $50 for emergency room trips, and these can add up if you need these services very often. Another cost to check is called coinsurance, which basically means you pay for part and the insurer pays for part. For example, Medicare Part A pays for hospitalization for the first 60 days, and then it only pays for a portion of the daily hospital costs from the 61st through the 150th day that you're hospitalized. The remainder is the coinsurance that you're responsible to cover. Getting help to pay for Medicare deductibles can mean big savings as well. The Medicare Part A deductible you are obligated to pay when admitted to a hospital as an inpatient is $1,100 per illness in 2010. Fortunately, most Medigap Plans (Plans B through N) reimburse you for this Part A deductible even if the amount changes from year to year. Last year, the deductible was $32 less. Getting the Best Value at the Lowest Cost Keep a separate list for each Medigap Plan you're considering. Write down what you actually incurred for doctor office visits, ER trips, hospital admissions, lab tests, prescriptions, and so on. Then check off if a particular Medigap Plan would have covered that cost. Do this with any medical expenses you anticipate this year that you didn't have previously, too. With this kind of an organized comparison, you can see which Medigap Plan will save you the most, but you're not quite through yet. Insurers charge different prices for the same Medigap Plan, such as Plan F, for example. That means once you're sure which plan offers you the greatest savings, you need to contact several insurers and compare prices for that plan. When you see the reduction in what you've been paying for healthcare, you'll be glad you took the time to do a little homework.
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