Medicare is a fantastic government program that already benefits the majority of aging Americans, especially those in long-term care facilities like the Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. In fact, at least one declared candidate in the upcoming 2020 presidential election has made the automatic expansion of Medicare coverage to all citizens one of the cornerstone issues of his campaign. Some experts, however, argue that basic Medicare without a helpful supplemental coverage could result in some substantial consumer costs.

The concern, they point out, is that basic Medicare not only has built in costs like copays and deductibles, it also has no specified out-of-pocket maximum, which could leave patients owing a hefty sum for a major medical event even after their Medicare coverage has been applied. Financial experts indicate that one big hospital stay could end up costing tens of thousands of dollars to a patient only carrying basic Medicare, and even just a number of small medical costs can add up rather quickly after awhile.

Currently, around 51 million seniors are enrolled in Medicare. Of those, nearly one-third also make use of Advantage plans, which limited the out-of-pocket expense a patient can incur. These Advantage plans usually also offer dental and vision coverage, as well as some other benefits. The other 34-million, however, may be making a potentially costly mistake by relying too heavily on basic Medicare alone.

If a patient only has basic Medicare without any other extra coverage from Medicaid and without any type of insurance provided by a current or former employer, their next best option for mitigating those cost not covered by their Medicare coverage might be a Medigap plan. These privately-offered policies are tailored to supplement Medicare and are designed to partially or fully cover Medicare’s cost-sharing elements like deductible and copays. They usually also offer the benefit of limiting a patient’s potential out-of-pocket expenses. Even with these helpful options, though, it is still estimated that over six million people lack coverage outside of basic Medicare, an oversight which could cost them dearly in the future.