Information on Medicare & Portability Regarding North Dakota Health Insurance

I will be turning 65 in a few weeks. Can you please explain the open enrollment for Medicare supplement (medigap) insurance policies to me?

If you are turning 65, your first priority is to make sure you are enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B. Contact the nearest Social Security office for information on enrollment procedures. Once you are enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B, consider whether you may want to purchase additional insurance to supplement your Medicare coverage.

Federal law gives you a six-month open enrollment period to apply for a Medicap insurance policy. The six-month period begins with the first month that you enroll for benefits under Medicare Part B. If you are 65 or older and apply within this six-month period, you cannot be denied Medigap insurance because of health problems. During this period, you have a choice of any of the different Medigap policies sold by any insurer selling Medigap policies in North Dakota. The company cannot deny or condition the isurance, or discriminate in the pricing of a policy because of your medical history, health status, or claims experience. Although some policies do not cover health problems existing at the time of the purchase of the policy, all Medigap policies are required to cover pre-existing conditions after the policy has been in effect for six months.

If you have specific questions about Medicare or Medigap, please contact the Senior Health Insurance Counseling Program at 1-800-247-0560.

My parents will be turning 65 soon and have already started to look at supplemental policies for Medicare. There are so many policies on the market. How can we be sure they are looking at a Medicare supplement policy?

Look for the words "Medicare Supplement" on the policy. These words identify a medigap policy which meets minimum federal and state standards. There are 10 standardized plans approved for sale in North Dakota. The standardized plans are identified by a letter designation of A through J.

What does portability mean?

After you are accepted by an insurance company for health insurance, the insurer must reduce any time period applicable to a pre-existing condition waiting period for time covered by qualifying previous coverage. The coverage must have been continuous for at least sixty-three days before the effective date of the new coverage.