Part A provides hospital insurance and Part B, which is optional, provides medical insurance. If someone chooses Part B, a monthly premium is deducted from her Social Security benefits. Medicare does not cover all health care services, nor does it pay the entire cost of all the services that it does cover. Medigap insurance is sold by private insurance companies to pick up where Medicare leaves off. When purchasing Medigap insurance shop around.
Policies offering the same benefits can vary greatly in price.
In addition, you want a policy that truly supplements Medicare. One that will cover that portion of the bill not covered by Medicare as well as covering some additional health services not provided by Medicare. There is increasing interest on the part of both Medicaid and Medicare to use managed health care plans as a means of controlling cost and improving case management and quality of care. Medicare also contracts with HMOs to manage and provide care to patients.