Medicare: Supplemental Coverage
Many Medicare beneficiaries have some type of supplemental insurance coverage to help fill the gaps in Medicare’s benefit package and help with Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements. Employer and union-sponsored plans are a leading source of supplemental coverage, providing health benefits to about one in three Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare Advantage plans are another source of supplemental coverage for people on Medicare. Many Medicare Advantage plan enrollees receive additional benefits and face lower cost-sharing requirements than they would under traditional fee-for-service Medicare.
Medigap policies – also called Medicare supplements – are sold by private insurance companies and help cover Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements and fill gaps in the benefit package. Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health and long-term care coverage to low-income Americans, is a source of supplemental coverage for roughly 8 million Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes and modest assets. These beneficiaries are known as “dual eligibles” because they are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.