Medicare Supplements – Choices for Those with Chronic Illness

Anyone with a medical history full of illness and disease can understand how hard it is to get good health insurance. Either you have to pay high premiums or you are denied altogether, when you are truly the one who needs the coverage more than the healthy customers. Medicare supplements work in a similar way, but are still afforded to people who are ‘aged in’ to the Medicare coverage. That means once you turn 65, you should get supplemental insurance in case you need it. If you don’t, you might not be able to get it down the road when you become ill and need it the most.

Medicare supplement insurance must be purchased within the time period that you are given to purchase it after you have turned 65. If you drop this coverage after developing a chronic illness or don’t buy it in the first place, you can never get it again. You can still qualify for Medicare coverage with chronic illnesses like heart failure, kidney disease, and others, but you cannot qualify for supplemental insurance. This is the sad truth of the insurance industry, and is uniform across the board. Those who need the insurance will pay more for it because they will be filing more claims than someone who doesn’t need it. After all, how else would the insurance industry be a multi-trillion dollar industry if it didn’t make a profit like it does?

People who have family histories of chronic illness should always get Medicare supplements as soon as they can. That way, when/if they do fall ill, they are covered. However, healthy people don’t need to rush into the coverage as quickly if they feel they will not need it. It is far better to be safe than sorry, however, which is why it is essential to get it while you can. The one advantage that you have with Medicare supplements is that you can be eligible even with a family history of disease, unlike many typical health insurance policies that turn people down who have extensive illness-ridden family histories.

The bottom line: if you have a history of chronic illness in your family and want to ensure that you are protected, get Medicare supplements as soon as you can, so that you don’t have to risk not having the coverage that you so desperately need. When it comes to medical coverage, it truly can be a matter of life and death.

For more information on Medicare supplement insurance and Medigap coverage, visit GoMedigap.