Why are there 4 parts to medicare, not 5?

[jack3454]

Sorry for the basic question, but this has not stopped bothering me since I've been in medicare space.

Why are supplements not considered a "part" of medicare? If you search google, even medicare.gov, there are four parts to Medicare, and then supplements straggling along somewhere.

Why not make it less confusing and just say there are five parts? Why does advantage get a part, but not Supplements?

If there's an actual answer to this I want to know!

 

[Midlevel]

Med Sups are a product that was developed to fill in the gaps of what Medicare doesn't cover. They are private insurance companies that aren't funded by CMS. Kind of like a GTL HI plan that's used to fill in the gap of MA hospital copays, etc. Not a perfect answer but gives you an idea.

 

[axeman462]

Sorry for the basic question, but this has not stopped bothering me since I've been in medicare space.

Why are supplements not considered a "part" of medicare? If you search google, even medicare.gov, there are four parts to Medicare, and then supplements straggling along somewhere.

Why not make it less confusing and just say there are five parts? Why does advantage get a part, but not Supplements?

If there's an actual answer to this I want to know!

AHIP considers medsupps to be "Part E" of Medicare

 

[Midlevel]

AHIP considers medsupps to be "Part E" of Medicare

Let's confuse these 90 year olds even more. I noticed that too doing AHIP.

 

[Newby]

Sorry for the basic question, but this has not stopped bothering me since I've been in medicare space.

Why are supplements not considered a "part" of medicare? If you search google, even medicare.gov, there are four parts to Medicare, and then supplements straggling along somewhere.

Why not make it less confusing and just say there are five parts? Why does advantage get a part, but not Supplements?

If there's an actual answer to this I want to know!

Medicare is from the government and funded by or partially funded by American taxpayers. Supplements are not. They are just private label insurance company, plans, that supplement Medicare coverage to help with deductibles and co-pays. They are completely paid for by the insured.
Medicare advantage replaces your government Medicare coverage. It does not add to it. It is mostly funded by American taxpayers.

 

[ValeRosso]

AHIP considers medsupps to be "Part E" of Medicare

That's what I was going to say. It's been on there for at least as long as I can remember. Ive also been saying this in my presentations, "There's A, B, C, D, and E".

 

[LostDollar]

Medicare advantage replaces your government Medicare coverage. It does not add to it. It is mostly funded by American taxpayers.

Caveat, I am not an insurance agent.

I don't think this is quite true. There must be a little better way to express what is going on here.

Since a Medicare Beneficiary has to have both Medicare Parts A and B in force, and continue to pay any required premiums to keep Parts A and B in force in order to obtain a Medicare Advantage insurance product; I don't think it is right to say that Medicare Advantage replaces your government Medicare coverage. In discussions on site about this over the years, a FL agent has consistently maintained that Medicare Advantage is a part of Medicare, not a replacement of it.

 

[LostDollar]

That's what I was going to say. It's been on there for at least as long as I can remember. Ive also been saying this in my presentations, "There's A, B, C, D, and E".

Caveat, I am not an insurance agent.

"There's A, B, C, D, and E".

This is not true. You are deliberately adding a piece of incorrect information to the horrific quantity of information flowing to Medicare beneficiaries about Medicare insurance.

Original Medicare is a Medical Insurance product which allows some individuals to control their costs for Medical Expense. Original Medicare Parts A and B leave covered Medicare Beneficiaries with a reduced, but uncapped, financial obligation for medical expenses. Medicare Supplements are a Medical Insurance product, sold by licensed insurance agents, which allow Medicare Beneficiaries to cap a potentially catastrophic level of loss from incurred Medical Expenses. Medicare Supplements are NOT a Fifth part of Medicare.

 

[rmhaire]

I don't think this is quite true. There must be a little better way to express what is going on here.

Actually what @Newby said is exactly true. No better way to put it.

To put it another way, once a person receives his or her Advantage card they might as well put their Original Medicare card in a desk drawer and forget about it. They're no longer dealing with OM any more. All of their dealings are now through the Advantage carrier they went with.

The only exception to this is Hospice. That always comes under OM but they won't need their OM card for that.

Paying for A and B has nothing to do with it.

 

[Cornelius]

Why is it Medicare Advantage can solicit on TV saying people can talk to a licensed agent but a licensed agent can't door knock or just walk around with a phone number on their back?