What are some of the mistakes to avoid when choosing medicare supplement plans

Introduction

Medicare supplement plans also known as Medigap plans are plans that help bridge the gap that is left by the original plan A and plan B. After you are 65 years of age and after you have enrolled in medicare part B, the next important step is to make sure that you enroll in Medigap. After enrolling in Medicare part B, you will have six months open enrollment period for Medigap. You should take advantage of that open enrollment period because that is the only time that you will enroll in a Medicare supplement plan without any problems and difficulties. There are many mistakes that people make especially with medicare in general. Here are some of them

Not enrolling to medicare

This is the first worst mistake that people do make when it comes to medicare. If you are enjoying social security benefits, you will automatically be enrolled in medicare part A and Medicare part B when you are 65 years of age. If you haven’t filled for social security yet, you will be needed to manually enroll in Medicare when you are finally 65. One thing that you should understand is that you cannot enroll in Medicare supplement plans when you are not enrolled in the original medicare. That is why it is very important to make sure that you are enrolled in Medicare part A and Medicare part B.

Missing the enrollment deadline

This is the worst mistake to make when it comes to medicare. As long as you are 65 years of age, you should consider having medicare. If you will be 65 years of age and still working, you can delay having enrolled for medicare supplement plans. After leaving your job, that is when you should take the initiative to make sure that you are enrolling for a medicare supplement plan. You will be having eight months to enroll in medicare and 6 months to enroll in Medicare supplement plan after enrolling for medicare part B. Using this opportunity is very important as failing to enroll during the open enrollment period will have you waiting until the next open enrollment period and when it comes to medicare supplement, you will incur extra costs such as high premiums.

Choosing the wrong Medigap

This is one of the worst mistakes to make when you are dealing with a medicare supplement plan. There are different types of Medigap policies to choose from but we all have different needs and health requirements. If you settle for a plan today, you can always switch when an opportunity arises just to make sure that you are settling for the best Medigap supplement plan. Instead of just choosing the first one that comes your way, you can sit down and assess all your needs first. You can as well go through the medicare supplement plans one by one until you find what will suit you well. Always take your time as mistakes can cost you.