Many retirees experience chronic health conditions that require constant treatment. However, because they no longer work full-time jobs, they typically lose access to benefits that they once enjoyed during their careers.
Instead of paying for your healthcare costs out of your own pocket, you can invest in a policy that will act as a secondary to your Social Security benefits. You can buy a Medicare supplement policy that will pay for most or all of your physicals, prescriptions, and other healthcare services.
Health insurance is important insurance that you need, no matter how old you are. If you don't have insurance, it can be difficult to see a medical provider when you need it most and it may prevent you from wanting to get help due to the cost of care. The good news is, it's getting easier to buy health insurance on your own, even if your employer doesn't offer it. Here are some ways having health insurance can protect your health.
Throughout your lifetime you will hopefully have several different types of health insurance. For some people, it may be helpful to see a timeline of how this coverage may change as they get older. While every life is different, with different challenges and benefits, the general public will likely have something resembling the following health insurance timeline.
Birth
As a new baby, you were covered by your parent's insurance, which may have been supplemented by some form of CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).
Whether you have started a new job and have to choose a medical insurance plan or you're shopping for medical insurance on the open market, it can be overwhelming and confusing. Two of the most popular types of insurance plans include preferred provider organizations (PPO) and health maintenance organizations (HMO).Many people do not understand the difference between these two options, and while they do have some similarities, they also very different from each other in several ways.
Even though many elderly people are covered with original Medicare Part A and Part B insurance, they're still responsible for services of deductibles and co-payments, which become very expensive for this segment of the population. They mostly live on austere budgets that leave them with very little money to purchase food and other necessities. You do, however, need to have Medigap or Medicare Advantage insurance to pick up charges that original Medicare does not cover.
