Plan F vs Plan G
What is the Difference Between a Plan F and a Plan G?
That’s a really great question, we hear that almost everyday in our business. Original Medicare has Part A and Part B. You can add up to 11 Medicare Supplement plan designs.
Plan F
Plan F is the most popular and most comprehensive of the 11 Medicare Supplement plans. Plan F supplements Original Medicare, which has two parts, Part A and Part B. When you turn 65 and you get Medicare, you get Original Medicare to begin with. The first sixty days you are in the hospital, Medicare is going to pay 100% of your hospital expenses, except for what we call Part A deductible. In 2017 the deductible is $1316.00, that’s up $1288.00 from last year. That is a per benefit period deductible that you pay. You could pay that as many as four to five times a year. Plan F supplements Original Medicare and pays the Part A deductible no matter how many times you go to the hospital. That is the main feature of Medicare Supplement Plan F.
Plan G, the second most popular plan, works the exact same way. The first 60 days in the hospital you’re covered very well with a Medicare Supplement Plan F or Plan G.
Part B
Part B covers doctors visits outside of the hospital. You have an annual deductible with Part B. Medicare pays 80% of what they consider reasonable, and you pay 20% of the annual deductible, which is $183 this year. So you are responsible for paying the first $183 of a doctor’s visit, or outpatient surgery. Plan F comes in and pays that for you, it also pays the 20% not paid by Medicare. So really, your doctors visits, outpatient surgeries, your Part B deductible is going to be paid in full and the 20% coinsurance.
Plan G
Plan G is slightly different from Plan F under Part B. Plan G does not pay the Part B deductible of $183, you would have to pay that. The trade is you’re going to get a significantly lower premium with Plan G. In exchange for you paying the Part B deductible, you’re going to get a big difference in premium savings. For example, a 70 year old woman in a big city pays $200 a month for her Medicare Supplement Plan F. With a Plan G, she would pay about $120. That’s about an $80 savings a month. All you’re going to do is pay the Part B deductible, which is $183 this year. We could take that risk, pay that $183 and you’ll have $1,000 a year extra that you could buy life insurance, home healthcare insurance, hospital indemnity, all kinds of things.
Our agents know that they need to take care of their client’s needs. Making sure they get the right plan, whether it is a Plan F or a Plan G, and if they can save them some premium dollars by putting them in a Plan G and take care of additional needs, whether its with a hospital indemnity plan or burial expenses, or whatever. It’s great for you to understand that and be able to have those conversations with your agent and say ‘what can I do with these premium savings to make sure I’m taken care of and won’t have any out of pocket expenses. Life insurance is definitely a conversation you should have with your family and your agent, and even hospital indemnity and other ancillary plans, to help fill in the gaps.
Savings
You know what we see, people who have been on Medicare for five years, from 65-70, female, and they’re paying $200 a month for a Plan F, which is the best, but they can get the second best for $80 a month less, $1,000 a year, pay the $183 deductible and that puts them $820 ahead. They usually take that money and pay their Part D drug premiums, and then it leaves them money for life insurance. So it’s really a smart move.
As a consumer, you want to talk to your agent about this. Make sure they explain the difference between the Plan F and the Plan G. Most of the time this is in your best interest.
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