If you are receiving Social Security, odds are that you are also on Medicare. If you are on Medicare, you need to find a Medicare supplemental insurance plan. Those plans are designed to cover things that your Medicare doesn't. That can include medications, specialists, and even services like gym memberships. There are all kinds of supplemental plans out there, so it can be hard for you to choose which one will work best for you. There are ways that you can narrow down the various choices so that you can find the one that will work best for you.
Out of Pocket Costs
One of the biggest ways that you can narrow down which supplemental plan you want to use is to check out the out of pocket costs that you are going to have to cover. If you have only Medicare, there is no cap to how much out of pocket costs you might end up with. However, most supplemental plans do cap those expenses off, so once you reach that cap, you aren't having to pay out of your own money. That cap is a yearly cap, so once the first day of the new year rolls around, generally the calendar year, you will have to start over again until you reach the cap for the new year.
Prescriptions
Another thing that you should check is what the prescription drug plan looks like. That's important to know, because you need to know if you are going to have to pay copays on your medications. You also need to check out the formulary. Each insurance company has their own formulary. The formulary is the list of prescription medications that the insurance will cover. Not all insurance companies will cover the same medications, so there is no guarantee that your new supplemental plan will cover your medication. If you have to have something specific, especially if it is something new, then you need to check the formulary to see if it is covered. You should also find out if there is an appeals process so that you can appeal if the insurance company won't pay for a medication, as well as finding out what kind of prior authorization process there may be.
If you have Medicare, you need to have a Medicare supplemental plan. There are a number of them out there, and one or more may fit your needs. You need to have ways to figure out which plan is best for you.
