Example: The doctor or hospital charges $100.00 for a procedure. Medicare APPROVES $50.00 and pays 80% of 50, ($40.00), the suppliment then pays the 10.00 balance and you owe nothing. If the procedure is something that Medicare will not pay for, you must be told in advance or you own nothing.

Now, some suppliments will pay for the $100.00 per year deductible, others do not. The difference in premium price is more that enough to pay for the decuctible yourself.

Most group policies, such as your husband's will change benefits when an employee reaches retirement age..So will any suppliment that you buy now.

Any suppliment you buy now, will probably either be expensive or will also change once you start receiving Medicare.

The AARP is a good Medicare suppliment policy. Most of the companies such as BC/BS have also have one. Don't waste your money getting one that pays for really special stuff like organ transplants as you probably would not ever need that sort of coverage.

Be sure to get a policy that allows you to pick your own doctor. The HMO type coverage that restricts you to certain doctors or hospitals is not always a good idea. It may cost a little more, but it is worth it.

PB

Medicare part D is drug coverage and you get it from a providing insurance company such as BCBS or Humana. Mine is about $82/mo and I have it taken directly from my account.

If you don't sign up when you first go on medicare then I've been told there is a penalty for late enrollment. Call your local SS office and get the number to call for information concerning this. Once you determine how much the Government provided plans will cost you including late enrollment fees then check other insurance plans to see the cost for these two items and compare prices. I doubt if you will be able to get a better price than those mentioned above unless the late fees are exessive.

As peabee said, no plan will cover more than 100% of the medicare APPROVED charge. If you choose to go to a doctor or medical care facility that does not take medicare, you will have to pay the difference in what the charge is and what medicare pays. So, be extremely careful when you choose a doctor or hospital.