Senior Health Insurance in Georgia: How Does It Work?
Elderly people in Atlanta, Georgia are often confused by the senior health insurance system and what is available to them. Once a person turns 65, they are automatically eligible for Medicare, which is health insurance coverage for the elderly. The problem is that Medicare doesn’t cover everything and seniors are left footing the bill for the balance. Many seniors opt for a medicare supplement health insurance to cover most of what Medicare does not.
Each state varies in what is covered by their senior health insurance plan. Georgia has health insurance for seniors but it only covers the basic needs that are required to be covered. Seniors need not only supplemental health insurance, but also insurance to supplement the cost of prescription medications, hospital stays, nursing homes, and home health care needs.
Supplemental health insurance for seniors is confusing in itself. There are several “parts” to these plans and they are all state regulated. This means that no matter what company a senior gets their supplemental health insurance from, it will have the same basic coverage as the next company. The differences will be in the extras that are offered by each company, as well as the service they provide and, of course, the cost of the senior health insurance.
Of the supplemental senior health insurance in Georgia, there are Plans A, B, C, F, high deductible F, K and L. Plans A through F are the highest priced premiums but have little or no out of pocket expenses beyond the premium. Part A offers basic coverage plus hospitalization and most medical expenses, but has a deductible. Plan B covers all of that plus the deductible for Plan A. Plan C covers the same as Plan B, but you can add nursing care and emergency services if you are outside of Georgia. Plan F covers Parts A and B but with a higher premium for a lower deductible.
High deductible Plan F has the lowest premium but with very high deductibles of nearly $2,000. This deductible must be paid completely before a supplemental senior health insurance plan kicks in. Plans K and L have lower premiums and cover some of the cost of doctors and hospitalization, but you must pay the balance.
Are you still confused about health insurance for the elderly in Georgia? So am I. So I did what any person in their 40’s who is confused about health insurance for the elderly would do, and I asked an elderly person. My grandmother is 92 years old and she was able to explain the whole senior health insurance dilemma to me. She’s been dealing with it for a few years.
She told me, “When you get old, you get sick. You can’t help it, it just happens. You can’t work when you’re old and sick, so you don’t get the insurance that you had at work that took care of everything. Instead you get this government health insurance for old people, and while it’s better than nothing, it’s just not good enough.” She went on to say that maybe if you could be old and not sick, the government’s senior health insurance in Georgia might work out for you.
I asked her what she does when her medical bills come in. I know she is on a fixed income and that she can’t afford to pay out much extra for huge medical expenses. I also wanted to know about all those pills and shots she takes every day, who pays for that?
Well, Grandma worked right up until she retired from the school system. She told me that she was able to keep her insurance from her job as a supplemental health insurance to the senior health insurance that is provided in Georgia. She has to pay all of her medical bills and then she sends in claims for her supplemental insurance to pay her back for most of it. Her supplemental health insurance also covers most of the cost of her medications, she explained.
That is great, I thought, until I realized that she said she has to pay for her medical expenses that her senior health insurance in Georgia doesn’t pay. When I asked her how she did that, she simply replied, “That’s why you have to have good credit.”