Senior Health & Fitness Issues

Since medicare does not fully cover the health needs of most seniors, many seniors opt for whats called medicare supplemental insurance or as its also known medigap insurance.  This insurance can be a cost effective and important step in offering more complete protection.

Every insurer that offers these plans can offer one of 10 plans, labeled a through J, with A offering the least amount of insurance and J the most.  This makes it easy to compare offerings from different providers.  By standardizing the process, no insurer can offer a different benefit plan than a competitor, making the only real factors in comparing providers limited to price and service.  There are a variety of plans that vary in terms of level of coverage and the amount of deductible.  The medicare SELECT policies are the least costly but offer the least in terms of services, which include restricting the amount the choice of which doctors are available to you and your ability to see those doctors.

AARP is a non-profit organization serving the needs of America’s fifty and older crowd, with the median age of its participants being 65 years old.   While this article is not attempting to compare the costs of all the providers out there, the AARP generally offers fair prices and it has the safety and experience of an organization that has been serving the needs of seniors for many decades.

Another important consideration is to carefully go through and other insurance policies you may have via an employer or pension agreement.  Oftentimes, these policies may cover important gaps left in medicare and you may be able to purchase a less expensive medigap policy.