California Life and Health Insurance Practice Exam

Which of the following plans will cover medical costs that Medicare doesn't cover?

1. Medicare supplement

2. Medicare Advantage

3. Medicaid

4. Standard health insurance

The correct answer is: Medicare supplement

The correct choice is Medicare supplement. This type of plan is specifically designed to work alongside Medicare by covering costs that Medicare does not cover, such as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles. Medicare supplements, also known as Medigap policies, are offered by private insurance companies and provide additional financial assistance to Medicare beneficiaries, helping to lower their out-of-pocket expenses. Medicare Advantage plans, while they may provide additional benefits beyond what Original Medicare offers, typically do not function in the same way as Medicare supplements. Instead, they replace Original Medicare with a managed care plan that may include coverage for additional services but does so in a different structure. Medicaid serves a different purpose entirely; it is a state and federally funded program designed to provide health coverage to eligible low-income individuals and families, and it can be a secondary payer to Medicare in certain cases. Standard health insurance plans do not align with Medicare and generally target a broader population, hence they do not specifically cover the gaps left by Medicare for individuals who are already enrolled in it. Therefore, Medicare supplement policies are the correct answer as they are explicitly designed to complement Medicare by covering those additional medical expenses that Medicare leaves unpaid.