The Health Care Bill

With the passage of the new Health Care Bill in 2010 many Americans are wondering if Medicare supplemental insurance will affected, and if so, how.

For the most part the changes in the Health Care Bill will apply to Medicare, not to supplemental insurance. However, this doesn't mean that supplemental insurance isn't going to look different after 2010.

In fact, 2010 has brought with it quite a few changes to the types of plans offered to you; there are fewer plans, but the ones that remain have been modified to offer you more services.

Here are a few of the changes that will take place, effective June 1st, 2010:

• Hospice Part A coinsurance - including outpatient prescription drug and inpatient respite care coinsurance - will be covered as a basic benefit. Plan K will cover 50% of these costs, and Plan L will cover 75% of the costs.
• Plans K, L, and N, will require you to pay a portion of part B coinsurance and copayments. This will mean lower premiums for those plans.
• Plan D and Plan G will offer different benefits after June 1st, 2010, though if you already had one of these plans before that time, you can keep it without any change of benefits.

The greatest changes that older Americans will see with the passing of the Health Care Bill will include more prescription drug coverage under Medicare in the form of rebate checks. As a result, supplemental insurance plans that cover prescription drugs may be less important to you.