Bolte Insurance Agency

Assignment means that your doctor, provider, or supplier agrees (or is required by law) to accept the Medicare-approved amount as full payment for covered services.

Fast Fact: “Minimum and Essential Coverage” is Health coverage that will meet the individual responsibility requirement. Minimum essential coverage generally includes plans, health insurance available through the Marketplace or other individual market policies, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, and certain other coverage.

Point of Service (POS) plan is a type of Medicare Advantage HMO plan that allows members the ability to visit doctors and hospitals outside their network for some covered services, usually for a higher copayment or coinsurance. Some POS plans do not require referrals for specialty services.

Generic prescription drugs are lower-cost alternatives to brand name drugs. They use the same active ingredients as their brand name counterparts and work the same way.

An "Extra Help Program" is a Medicare program that helps people with limited income and resources pay for Medicare Part D prescription drug plan costs, such as premiums, deductibles and coinsurance.

Original Medicare, also known as Traditional Medicare, is the fee-for-service health insurance program offered through the federal government, which pays providers directly for the services you receive. Almost all doctors and hospitals in the U.S. accept Original Medicare.

Medigap plans and Medicare supplement insurance plans are the same things, just two different terms.

Don’t forget that Medigap policies also do not include Part D, so you will purchase your drug plan separately.

Confused about Medicare? Medicare terminology is confusing, but we can explain it in terms that are easier to understand.

Medigap refers to Medicare Supplement plans, private insurance plans that are secondary to Original Medicare.