Medicare Medical Savings Acct Loans
The Medicare Medical Savings Account plan is a consumer-directed Medicare Advantage plan that fuses high-deductible insurance plans with a medical savings account. This is a unique coverage option for future-minded Medicare enrollees. Here is what you need to know about Medicare Medical Savings Account plans.
How Does Medicare Advantage Work?
Medicare is a government organized health care insurance program intended to provide senior citizens and citizens with qualifying disabilities with affordable health care coverage. Although Original Medicare is the primary Medicare product, there is an alternative program called Medicare Advantage. Advantage plans offer the same standard benefits as Original Medicare policies, but come in different configurations and may offer supplemental benefits as well. The Medical Savings Account plan is one such configuration.
What Is A Medicare Medical Savings Account Plan?
The Medical Savings Account option is intended for people who want aid saving money that they can later use to pay their health care costs. The plans consist of two main components, the high-deductible health plan and the Medical Savings Account. This is how they work:
- High-deductible health plan – This is a special version of a standard Medicare Advantage plan that features higher deductibles and somewhat lower premiums. The plan will only begin covering health care costs once a yearly deductible has been paid out-of-pocket. The deductible amount varies by plan.
- Medical savings account – A special savings account that has money deposited into it by the Medicare MSA plan. Money deposited into this account can be used to pay health care costs before your deductible is met.
Medical Savings Account Plan Benefits
The Medicare Medical Savings Account plan offers the same standard of benefits as any other Advantage plan, but may also include additional benefits like dental, vision, and hearing. Be informed that Medical Savings Account plans do not include prescription drug coverage, therefore you will need to source this coverage through Medicare Part D.
Medical Savings Account Plan Enrollment
If you want to enroll in a Medical Savings Account plan, you will need to do so during the correct enrollment period. The best time to enroll is during the Initial Enrollment Period, which starts 3 months prior to your 65th birthday, includes your birth month, and another 3 months. The period is a total of 7 months, wherein you can enroll in any Medicare program. If you miss this period, you can also enroll during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, which falls between January 1 and March 31 each year. There is also the Fall Open Enrollment Period which falls between October 15 and December 7.