[Magdalen] health care...

[Jim Guthrie]

From: Jay Weigel

>Do you have Medigap or one of those other policies which is basically
>"instead of" REAL Medicare?


Can you explain exactly how a MediGap supplement is not **real** Medicare?

That is certainly news to me having Medicare and the MediGap picking up the 20% 
that Medicare part B does not.

I realize Medicare Advantage is different -- it's essentially a Medicare-funded 
HMO that covers 100% of nearly everything, but limits the doctors and medical 
facilities. Some would say that's not **real** Medicare, but others swear by it.

There are six MediGap plans - A-B-C-D-E-F, all of which carry different benefits 
and costs. What they cover is standard across all companies offering the plans, 
and the only thing different is the monthly premium.

Some people are a bit naïve about choosing which plan will serve their needs 
best, and think they can save by getting the cheapest -- which results in great 
financial pain if they suddenly have a catastrophic health crisis of some sort. 
That might appear to be not **real** Medicare in those cases.

But then Americans generally have no clue on these things, though they are real 
happy to pay huge medical care costs in return for choosing their own primary 
care physician.

Cheers,
Jim