Outpatient medical care is covered 80% by Medicare Part B after you first pay a small annual deductiblle. Many major illnesses and health conditions are provided for, but cancer in particular is an illness which most beneficiaries want to be sure they have properly insured themselves for. Most forms of cancer are covered by Medicare cancer benefits under Part B. Common forms of treatment though, such as chemotherapy and radiation, can get quite expensive when you are responsible for the other 20%. To minimize the risk of financial exposure, most beneficiaries enroll in a medigap plan to cover their part of any costs related to cancer treatment.

Should you be receiving care for cancer or any other illness upon becoming eligible for Medicare, you will be glad to know that you are protected from pre-existing limitations by an open enollment window. During this period, you can choose any medicare supplement you wish and enroll without giving answering any medical questions. Your open enrollment window allows your supplement to start on the same day as your Medicare Part B, or at any time up to six months after that date. Enrolling in a medigap plan during this window is a good idea, since the insurance carriers cannot turn you down for coverage due to any health reason.

Medicare supplements are standardized by our federal government so that you as a consumer can more easily compare prices between carriers without having to worry that benefits differ. Medicare supplements are categorized into plans A – N, and each one fills in various gaps in your original A & B benefits. Plan A, which covers the least amount of gaps, still offers coverage for the other 20% of Part B medical expenses that you would normally owe. This means your coverage for normal forms of cancer treatment like chemotherap and radiation are quite good under any medigap plan. Choosing which one suits you the best is a matter of assessing how much you are able to pay for a supplement and whether you are willing to share in any of the deductible or co-insurance cost-sharing in order to lower your monthly premiums.

It should be noted that consumers also have private Medicare health plans available to them called Medicare Advantage, or Part C. With most of these plans, the premium you pay for the coverage is considerably less than the cost of a supplement, but you will pay copays and co-insurance for various types of medical services as you go along. Many of these plans have higher cost-sharing for cancer treatments — sometimes as much as 20%. Although the plans do have an out-of-pocket-maximum to protect you from spending past a certain amount annually, a serious illness like cancer can often cause you to reach this limit. You should carefully evaluate whether you can afford this higher financial exposure before you consider an Advantage plan.

Assessing how your medicare supplemental coverage provides benefits for cancer treatment is a routine but wise precaution. While there is no crystal ball that we can look into to know our medical future, we know that cancer is common and also costly. Your personal tolerance for medical financial risk as well as how much you can willingly spend for coverage will guide you in choosing supplemental insurance. Consulting a professional insurance broker who can explain benefits for each type of coverage will also save you time and effort in finding a plan, as well as ensuring that plan is most suitable one for your lifestyle habits, monthly budget and individual needs.

Want to find out more about Medicare Part A & B Benefits, then visit Danielle Kunkle’s site on how to choose the best medicare supplement for your needs.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• medicare cancer coverage
• DOES MEDICARE COVER CHEMotherapy
• medicare and cancer coverage
• does medicare pay for chemotherapy
• how much does medicare pay for chemotherapy
• medicare chemotherapy coverage
• does medicare cover cancer
• chemotherapy medicare
• medicare chemotherapy
• medicare cancer treatment coverage