Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans – When Can You Sign Up

Medicare Supplement insurance plans have certain enrollment periods, during which you can sign up for a plan with no medical underwriting. What this means is that you do not have to answer any medical questions or have the possibility of having any pre-existing conditions excluded. However, even outside of these enrollment periods, you can still sign up for a plan at any time. The enrollment periods that allow you to sign up without having to answer the medical questions are: Open Enrollment and Guaranteed Issue. This article will elaborate on both of those periods.

Open Enrollment occurs when you first turn 65 or first enroll in Medicare Part B. This period lasts for six months from your 65th birthday or your Part B effective date. It is possible to have two open enrollment periods – one when you go on Medicare Part B (for disability) and a later one when you turn 65. However, you must have both Medicare Parts A and B.

Guaranteed Issue, on the other hand, is more complex. There are several Guaranteed Issue situations that can occur. To name a few, leaving/losing employer coverage, losing a Medicare Advantage plan, moving to a new state out of an Advantage plan service area, and many more. When these situations occur, you typically have 63 days from the qualifying event to sign up for the Medigap plan. It is very important to do so during this period, while you can still qualify under the Guaranteed Issue stipulations.

The advantages to signing up for a plan during one of these Open Enrollment or Guaranteed Issue periods speaks for itself. It is essential to do this if you are in one of these periods to avoid having to go through medical underwriting, which can cause problems if you have some pre-existing conditions.

If you have any questions about Medicare Supplement insurance plans or the eligibility or enrollment periods, you can find information on http://www.medicare.gov or by calling us toll-free at 877.506.3378. You can also contact us on our Medicare Supplement quotes page by entering whatever questions you have in the comments box.

South Carolina Medicare Resources

For South Carolina Medicare enrollees, there are many resources through which you can get answers to your questions, obtain information about your benefits, and evaluate your current coverage. We’ve compiled a few of those resources below with links to the corresponding web sites:

  1. South Carolina Medicare Insurance – Medicare in SC – This is the home page for Secure Medicare Solutions, which is a leading, independent resource for Medicare and Medicare insurance information in South Carolina. At the site, you can research information about your South Carolina Medicare Supplements coverage or South Carolina Medicare Part D information.
  2. South Carolina Medicare Minutes – South Carolina Medicare Minutes is an independent blog and reference for all things related to South Carolina Medicare and Medicare insurance. The blog has frequent updates about things of interest to those who have Medicare in the Palmetto state.
  3. Medicare.gov – The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare – Medicare.gov is the official government Medicare site. This site give you information about how the various parts of Medicare work overall, how they work with one another, as well as information about how to sign up for the various parts of Medicare.
  4. Center for Medicare Advocacy – This is an independent site with unbiased information about Medicare and how it works. You can get the answers to a lot of frequently asked questions on this site.
  5. Garrett Ball – EzineArticles.com Expert Author – This is the main site for EzineArticles.com, which is a leading, human-reviewed article site, which compiles qualified articles from expert authors from around the world. Garrett Ball, who has been given the designation of expert author, writes articles particularly about South Carolina Medicare Insurance, which can be found on his author home page.

South Carolina Medicare Enrollees – Dental Insurance is Here

I am asked by South Carolina Medicare enrollees, if not every day, almost every day, about dental insurance. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options available for those who are over 65 and want affordable dental insurance. Most of the plans that are out there only cover some dental or only offer discounts (not real insurance).

Finally! There is a plan now, from United Health Care, which does cover those over 65 and offer solid dental coverage for a reasonable price. It also offers, for a very small additional price, vision coverage.

For information about this new dental plan, including an outline of coverage and quote, go to South Carolina Medicare Insurance quotes and type the word “Dental” in the comments box.