Medicare Part A Can Leave You Unprotected In Many Health Care Areas
When you have Medicare Part A coverage, you might assume you are covered in the event you become ill, but the truth of the matter is that you are only partially covered in the event you have a hospital stay for 3 days or more. Most people don’t fully understand Medicare Part A until they are faced with a major hospital stay. It shouldn’t be considered long term care insurance because you are only covered for up to 100 days in a skilled nursing care facility and even then, the first 20 days are paid and you are faced with partial payments for the remaining 80 days.
What this essentially means for many people is that Medicare Part A can still leave them with a large medical bill, in the event they get sick. Medicare Part B covers outpatient surgery, doctor and emergency room fees, but Medicare Part B costs additional premiums and many people don’t choose this option. For those that only have Medicare Part A, they will find that they can still have a medical bill that amounts to a few thousand dollars or more, with a hospital stay because these extra fees aren’t covered.
When you only have Medicare Part A, you might not have to pay a premium, but even then, there are some people that do have to pay one. When you consider that not that many things are covered under Medicare Part A, it should only be considered major hospital coverage and you might want to consider supplemental policies. In fact, some people will choose the Medicare Part C coverage because it is a combination of Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B coverage and there might be some prescription drug coverage on some plans.
If you want to consider other supplemental policies, there are Medicare supplemental insurance policies and some people might look into Medigap coverage, which can cover some of the gaps that this lack in coverage might cause. Many people will consider Medicare Part A, Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D and still have gaps in coverage, so you can see that Medicare isn’t considered 100% coverage. For Medicare Part C policies, Medigap usually doesn’t apply, but there are some that think it provides lower costs and better benefits, so it isn’t needed.
Of course, every medical situation is different and many people will consider long term health care insurance, Medicare supplemental insurance and Medigap to try to cover the majority of the health care needs that might arise. It is just a matter of analyzing your needs and the premium costs, but some states have additional help for lower income individuals through the Medicaid program. Because you can’t depend on Medicare Part A to be a complete health care plan, you need to consider some other options for the most complete health care insurance plan. If you are in doubt about what your Medicare Part A covers, you can talk to a Medicare representative or private insurance company that offer Medicare policies.