Medicare is a federally funded health insurance program that covers some, but not all, health care expenses for individuals sixty-five years and older, as well as those of individuals who qualify due to a health condition or disability.

Medicare supplement insurance is designed to take up the slack in your Medicare coverage and help pay expenses not covered by the original Medicare. Sometimes called Medigap, a Medicare supplemental policy works only with original Medicare, and will not work with the Medicare Advantage plan.

Medicare supplement insurance is available for purchase to assist individuals with some of the health care costs not covered by Medicare. Services not covered by Medicare for which you might need supplemental insurance include long-term health care outside of a nursing home, custodial or assisted living care, more than one hundred days of skilled nursing care in your home following a hospital stay, private-duty nursing, most dental care and dentures, eye exams, eyeglasses, and hearing aids.

While supplemental Medicare policies are available from private insurers licensed and regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance, Medicare supplement benefits are administered and set by the U. S. federal government.

One option for Medicare supplement insurance is Medicare Select. Medicare Select requires policyholders to use doctors and hospitals within the plan’s network for routine care. There are ten standard Medicare supplement insurance plans, each labeled with a different letter of the alphabet (A – N) and offering different combinations of benefits.

Every private company providing Medicare supplement insurance must offer Plan A. Benefits offered by the Medicare supplement plans include hospitalization, medical expenses, hospice, and blood services.

For details and more information regarding Medicare supplement insurance, you may contact Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 or visit their website at www.medicare.gov. The Texas Department of Insurance may be contacted at 1-800-252-3439 or through their website at http://www.tdi.texas.gov/.