If you are nearing 65 years of age, you have probably already seen advertisements for many top Medicare supplement companies. In this New Era Medicare supplement review, we’d like to introduce you to a company that you may not have heard about as much. Please take a few minutes to learn about New Era and how these Medicare supplement plans can help you control healthcare costs.

Who is New Era?

Since people on Medicare rely upon their Medicare insurance for all-important access to affordable medical care, they are usually prudent enough to make sure that they buy Medicare supplements from a stable company. These are some facts about New Era that should help to satisfy you:

• Even though New Era sounds new, the company actually incorporated almost a century ago in 1924.
• The current management has been running the company over one-quarter of a century.
• New Era Life Insurance has earned a B++ (Good) rating from A.M. Best for financial stability.
• New Era and its associated companies are located in the United States, with a headquarters in Houston, Texas.
• In addition to New Era Medicare supplement insurance, you can also purchase annuities and final expense policies from this company.

Some other positive benefits that our clients have appreciated include issuing policies quickly and handling customer service with speed and courtesy. The company’s sophisticated claims handling keeps both medical providers and clients happy too. You can find New Era supplement products in Texas, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and possibly more states soon.

What You Should You Know About the New Era Medicare Supplement

Almost every Medicare recipient finds a way to enhance the benefits they receive from Original Medicare. It’s true that Medicare Part A and B will cover most healthcare services; however, they don’t cover everything. The services they do cover, like hospital stays and visits to a doctor, are not covered at 100 percent.

With Original Medicare, a variety of deductibles or copayments can still leave you exposed to high out-of-pocket expenses that you may have trouble planning for. Your Medicare supplement policy from New Era helps fill in some or all of these gaps in coverage to give you peace of mind and extra protection for your pocketbook.

Since all Medicare supplements have to offer standardized benefits, it’s easier to understand your coverage. You will enjoy the same basic benefits from any one supplement if you purchase it from New Era or any other Medicare insurance company. That means you are free to consider premiums and the company’s reputation when you decide which company to buy Medicare supplements from.

Unless you are in your Initial Enrollment period when you are first eligible for Medicare part B, or are entitled to Guaranteed Acceptance, you should not apply if any of the following apply to you because you will not be accepted.

• Advised to have a surgery or biopsy in the last 2 years that you have not done
• Confined to a hospital two or more times in the last 2 years
• Require the use of a wheelchair, walker or motorized scooter
• Had a pacemaker implanted in the last 12 months
• Discussed having a joint replacement with your doctor

Which Medicare Supplements are the most popular?

You can choose from a handful of different supplements. They are all simply named with letters that start with Plan A and end with Plan N. This gives you the chance to find the Medicare supplement that will offer you the best combination of premiums and benefits.

We serve clients with different financial situations, medical needs, and preferences, so we know that there’s not a one-size-fits-all supplement for everybody. At the same time, we can say that one of these three popular options suits most of our clients and are the same plans that most the best medicare supplement companies offer:

• Plan F: You will find that Plan F offers you the most comprehensive protection of any of the New Era supplements because it covers everything that Medicare will allow a supplement to cover. Over the years, Plan F has proven more popular than the other supplements. This is probably because people who buy supplements would prefer to just pay their premiums in exchange for predictable costs and robust coverage.
• Plan G: You should know that Plan G and Plan F are almost identical. Typically, you will find that Plan G costs less because it doesn’t offer coverage for Part B’s annual deductible. In the past, this yearly deductible has remained fairly modest, so you should be able to save a few dollars a month without taking a risk if you buy Plan G from New Era.
• Plan N: Would you prefer to save money on your premiums by paying modest copays for a trip to the doctor or the ER? Are you happy visiting providers who accept Medicare Assignment, which means they won’t bill more than Medicare recommends? If so, Plan N offers lower premiums, and you might be satisfied if you are generally healthy and prefer to pay lower premiums. Even if you do get sick, you will still have very broad benefits.

How Do Supplements Handle Prescription Costs?

Neither Original Medicare nor Medicare supplements cover the sorts of medications that you get with a prescription at your local pharmacy or by mail order. Typically, Part A and B will only cover the kinds of medications that you get administered directly at an inpatient or outpatient facility. If you buy a Medicare supplement, you also need prescription coverage.

Most supplement owners do purchase a Medicare Part D plan to cover the majority of their prescription drug costs and if you don’t buy one when you are first eligible or your “Initial Enrollment Period”, you’ll pay a penalty of 1% per month that you don’t have one unless you have other credible drug coverage.

When’s the Best Time to Apply for the New Era for Medicare Supplement?

If you qualify for Medicare Part A and B, you legally qualify for these Medicare supplements. However, you should know that you can be guaranteed acceptance in any supplement when you first qualify for Medicare and for the next six months. At other times, insurers may offer you a plan with higher rates or decline your application because of health reasons.

As a note, you may also qualify for other guaranteed-acceptance periods if you move away from a current plan, lose health insurance because you retired, and for a few other reasons. Since these rules may vary between states, please contact us for more information if you’re interested in replacing your current policy.  New Era will not hold you to a pre-existing condition limitation if you have had another Medicare Supplement in the last few months.

In any case, most of our clients find that the best time to apply with New Era and other Medicare supplement companies is when they are just turning 65 and cannot be declined or have premiums increased for health reasons.

How can you enroll in or compare Rates for New Era Medicare Supplements?

As we mentioned above, we are independent agents who can offer you competitive quotes from a variety of highly rated companies.  Simply call 614-402-5160 or fill out the Customized Quote form.