The health care law passed in 2010 requires Medicare to provide full coverage for all recommended preventive tests as well as an annual physical, effective in 2011. In previous years, Medicare enrollees had co-payments or co-insurance for some of these preventive tests. In 2010, for example, Medicare paid only 80% of the costs of mammograms and colonoscopies.
Because of the potential costs to patients, certain Medicare supplement ("Medigap") insurance policies had been unpopular because they required higher cost-sharing. Medicare enrollees in policies with higher cost-sharing often had sizable co-pays for such tests. Now that Medicare is paying all the costs of recommended preventive tests, lower-premium but higher cost-sharing Medigap policies have become more attractive.
These low-premium policies include the four newest Medigap offerings: Policies K, L, M, and N. Similarly, the high-deductible version of traditional Policy F has gained appeal. Under federal law, all Medigap Policies K must have the same benefits, all Policies L must have the same benefits, and so on. However, different insurers may charge different premiums so it pays to shop around.
