| Medicare Supplement plans have certain | | | | 4. Your Medicare Supplement company goes |
| "Guaranteed Issue" periods that allow individuals to | | | | bankrupt, which causes you to lose coverage. OR, |
| apply for a plan without denying you coverage, | | | | you lose Medicare Supplement plan coverage |
| excluding your pre-existing conditions, or charging | | | | through no fault of your own. |
| you more because of any health conditions. These | | | | 5. You enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or |
| guaranteed issue (GI) rights are | | | | PACE when you were first eligible to enroll, and |
| Federally-mandated by the Centers for Medicare | | | | within a year of joining, you wish to switch back |
| & Medicaid Services and apply to you all | | | | to "original" Medicare (and a Medicare Supplement |
| Medicare-enrollees who are in one of these | | | | plan). |
| specific situations. | | | | 6. You dropped a Medicare Supplement to switch |
| The GI rights generally occur when your current | | | | to a Medicare Advantage or Medicare SELECT |
| health care coverage is changing in a certain way | | | | policy for the first time. You have been in that |
| or you are involuntarily losing your coverage. | | | | plan for less than a year and wish to switch back |
| Specific insurance companies may create their | | | | to Medigap. |
| own GI situations, and they do; however, there | | | | 7. You decide to drop a Medigap policy or leave a |
| are seven Federally-prescribed GI situations that | | | | Medicare Advantage plan because the company |
| all Medicare Supplement insurance companies must | | | | hasn't followed the rules or misled you in some |
| follow. If you fall into one of these periods, you | | | | way. |
| should be able to sign up for a Medicare | | | | Individual states also have the authority to create |
| Supplement plan on a Guaranteed Issue basis. | | | | additional GI situations, and some have done so. |
| These seven situations are: | | | | Also, some of the specific GI situations have |
| | | | particular requirements for the plans that you can |
| 1. You have employer or union coverage that | | | | go into. For example, you may be eligible for a GI |
| pays AFTER Medicare, and that coverage is | | | | into a Medicare Supplement plan; however, it may |
| ending. | | | | have to be one of certain plans. |
| 2. You are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, | | | | It is advantageous for you to be aware of these |
| and this plan is leaving the Medicare program, | | | | guaranteed issue situations if you are on Medicare. |
| stops servicing your area, OR you are moving out | | | | If you fall into one of them and elect not to sign |
| of the plan's specific service area. | | | | up for a plan while that GI period is in effect, you |
| 3. You have a Medicare SELECT policy, and you | | | | will, most likely, have to qualify medically for a |
| are moving out of the plan's service area. You | | | | Medicare Supplement if you do decide to sign up |
| can keep your current policy, but you do have | | | | at a later time. |
| the right, on a GI basis, to switch to a new policy. | | | | |
