There are basically two ways to get health insurance coverage for senior citizens. The U.S. government provides Medicare for you when you reach 65, or, you can keep your private health insurance.
Employer Health Insurance Coverage for Senior Citizens
Many people think that they must give up their employer’s health insurance when the reach 65. This is not the case. If you want to start receiving Medicare, you can’t receive other health insurance. But, you are not restricted from Medicare forever if you don’t sign up immediately on your 65th birthday. You can keep your employer’s health insurance until you retire. When you finally do retire, you enter into your open enrollment period with Medicare, which is a 6 month time period to enroll for full benefits.
Medicare Health Insurance Coverage for Senior Citizens
Health insurance coverage for senior citizens is offered through Medicare. This consists of Medicare Part A that provides hospitalization coverage, and pays about 80% of your hospital bills. Part B is a policy you can purchase with minimum premium. Part B will pay 80% of your doctor bills.
In addition to Parts A and B, you can get Medicare Parts C and D through private insurers.
Parts C and D Health Insurance Coverage for Senior Citizens
Medicare Part D offers prescription health insurance coverage for senior citizens. The only way to get Part D is through a private insurance company. You can check with the insurance company that handled your employer’s insurance if you don’t already have one. Part C of Medicare is actually Medicare Advantage, or MA. It’s also known as
Medigap or Medicare supplement.
To qualify for Medicare Part D prescription health insurance coverage for senior citizens, you must be receiving Part A, B, or both. If you participate in Part D, you’ll decide which Prescription Drug Plan in which you wish to participate. There are several outlined by Medicare, and you can find one that includes your medications. If your annual prescription expense exceeds $2,380, you’ll get a $250 rebate from Medicare. In addition, once you reach this limit you’ll start getting a discount of 50% on all of your medications. The catastrophic limit for prescriptions is $4,550, at which point Medicare pays 100%. Two thirds of people seeking health insurance coverage for senior citizens choose this option.
Medicare Part C health insurance coverage for senior citizens is the supplemental insurance you can purchase that sort of bundles everything together. This supplemental coverage includes prescription coverage, and can help you pay the 20% of your share of Medicare Part D.
Employer Subsidized Health Insurance Coverage for Senior Citizens
Many employers at this time offer a supplement for their retired employees to help cover prescriptions. At this time, the employer can submit this amount to Medicare for a 28% refund. However, starting in 2013, they will have to begin declaring this refund as income. This is due to Health Care Reform. This is expected to affect employer contributions to the prescription coverage for retired seniors.
