Rights of passage - you got your drivers license, became old enough to drink, got married, had children, hit 40, then 50 and became entitled to United of Omaha, retired, and now you’re 65 and are entitled to Medicare. Embrace it and the challenges that come with it. Buying a Medicare supplement plan is one of those challenges - but this really is not that difficult.

If you’re over age 65 and do not need a retiree medical plan through a former employer or union or even a government retiree plan and aren’t on Medicaid for medical coverage then you’ve likely had the pleasure of researching your options.

It’s especially difficult if you’re considering this insurance when you’re first turning 65. If you’ve already experienced this you’ll know very well what After all find medicare premiums online when I say your mailbox becomes cluttered with the marketing materials from most of the various providers of Medicare supplement providers and most of the educational material from Social Security and Medicare. You’ll receive brochures and outlines of coverage and applications and scores of “Choosing a Medigap Policy” Guides (Medigap is another term for this insurance) and Medicare and You and notices and requests to send your information back on a card.

Maybe even worse are the telephone calls and the unexpected visitors at the entranceway all wanting to help you understand just why their plans are best.

It is one of the worst types of information overload you’ll ever experience. You will truly have a stack of Medicare and Medicare supplement guides 1 foot tall. They start about 6 months before your 65th birthday and just keep coming until many months after. Even with age 65 you will be bombarded towards the conclusion of annually with offers from different companies. Many of them seem a touch too good to be true - and they often are.

To produce things even a little more frustrating is that you have to forget everything you’ve ever known about medical insurance ahead of the age of 65.

You see, this insurance policies does not need doctor’s networks. They’re not PPO’s or HMO’s. Whenever you get a Medicare supplement there isn’t to concern yourself with your doctor taking, or even preferring, one Medicare supplement companies plan over another’s. Your network could be the Medicare network and the doctor’s office files medical claims together - not with the Medicare supplement insurance company. Once Medicare approves the claim they’ll notify your Medicare Supplement Insurance provider they’ve to pay for their part. So, the Medicare supplement insurance company can’t decide if they want to pay a state or not. If Medicare approves they have to pay for their part. If Medicare does not approve the insurance company doesn’t pay anything either.

Also, the plans are standardized groups of benefits classified into plan letters. So, you could wind up buying an idea F or an idea G or C. Regardless that plan letter you choose it will work identically without regards to which company you obtain it from.