Colorado Medicare Supplement Insurance
and Medicare Plans for Seniors

Colorado Medicare Supplements

Get an instant quote and download applications for Colorado Medicare Supplement Plans.

Medicare Supplement Information
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 years of age or older. It pays for much of your health care, but not all of it. Such costs could be prescription drugs, deductibles, and coinsurance.  If you need help understanding your Colorado Medicare coverage, there are many resources available to help you.  Among them, consider:

• Schedule an appointment with Erickson Financial Services - There is no charge to meet with one of our agents.  Our staff can help you understand your options for purchasing Medicare supplemental coverage in the State of Colorado. 
• Colorado Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) - The Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program, within the Colorado Division of Insurance, helps people enrolled in Medicare with questions about health insurance. Topics addressed by the program include Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap), Medicare HMOs, Medicaid assistance for people on Medicare, and long-term care insurance.
• Senior Insurance Assistance, Inc. - P.0. Box 10130, Colorado Springs, CO 80932. Ph: (719) 635-4891.  Fax: (719) 634-6311.  Executive Director: Lisa Hietala

Medigap, or Medicare Supplement Insurance, is supplemental insurance sold by private health insurance companies to fill in the "gaps" in Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Medicare Part B (Doctor Visit Insurance).

We recommend reading through the following three documents for a better understanding of Medicare and Choosing a Medigap Policy or a Medicare Advantage plan. (These document files are quite large and may take several minutes to download):

• Medicare and You 2011
• 2011 Guide to Choosing a Medigap Policy 

You must have Medicare Parts A and B to purchase a Medigap policy or Medicare Advantage plan, and like Medicare, you & your spouse can each purchase your own Medigap policy or Medicare Advantage plan. 

Medical Underwriting
"Medical Underwriting" means that acceptance of your application for coverage will depend upon your current health status.  Medical underwriting applies only to Medicare Supplement plans.  Medicare Advantage plans are NOT medically underwritten, and you can enroll into any Medicare Advantage plan when you are first eligible for Medicare and during the Annual Election Period every year between Nov 15th and Dec 31st, for an effective date of January 1st.  There is also an Open Enrollment Period (OEP) from Jan 1st through Mar 31st in which you can make changes or switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan effective the first of the month following the date of your enrollment application.

You are guaranteed issuance of Medigap (Medicare Supplement) insurance without underwriting typically only once in your lifetime, so we recommend that you select the best policy you can afford (Medigap Plan F or better);  especially since the price difference between plans is usually fairly minimal. 

Qualifying events for enrolling into Medigap coverage without underwriting for pre-existing conditions are:

• The open enrollment period during the first 6 months in which you are both age 65 AND enrolled in Medicare Part B
• The qualifying event created after enrolling into Medicare Part B AND terminating coverage from an employer-sponsored group health plan
• Anytime within 1 year after the first time enrolling onto a Medicare Advantage  Plan
• You've moved outside of the servicing area of another healthplan you had in force prior to moving

Prices can vary greatly from one insurance company to the next, so you should compare rates between carriers offering supplemental coverage in your state.  Erickson Financial Services can provide quotes for you from several different carriers including Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Mutual of Omaha, Golden Rule (United Healthcare), and Genworth's American Continental plan.   If you are interested in receiving a Medicare Supplement Quote, please contact our office at 719-535-8298. 

Medicare Supplement Prices
There are quite a few different insurance companies that sell Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage in the State of Colorado.  The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) keeps track of all of the various insurance Companies that sell Medicare Supplements in Colorado, and year after year, they keep a somewhat updated list of Medicare Supplement pricing by insurance company.  Click the link below for the latest Medicare Supplement pricing information offered by DORA:

Medicare Part D
Medicare Part D (Prescription Drug Insurance or PDP Plan) is now available.  If you are currently taking prescription medications and do not already have prescription drug coverage, it is worthwhile for you to look into this option.  Go to www.medicare.gov  to find out which Part D plans include your prescriptions in their formulary and which Part D plans will offer you the least out of pocket expense based on the current prescriptions that you are taking.

You may sign up for a PDP plan when you first become eligible for Medicare (three months before the month you turn age 65 until three months after you turn age 65). If you get Medicare due to a disability, you can join from three months before to three months after your 25th month of cash disability payments. If you don't sign up when you are first eligible, you may pay a penalty. If you didn't join when you were first eligible, your next opportunity to join will be from November 15, 2008 to December 31, 2008.