Page 1 - Cover Letter and Evaluation for Michael Boucher

April 2, 2021

Mr. Michael Boucher
1054 Cheshire Lane
Houston, TX 77018-2025

Dear Michael:

Now that you have enrolled in Part A and Part B, Medicare is your primary health insurance (as
of April 1). That means that Medicare pays first – and so when you go to your doctors, they will
send the bill to Medicare. After Medicare pays what it owes (usually 80%), it will forward the
unpaid balance to the Medigap insurance company, which will pay the doctor any amounts that
it owes. Then if there’s still an unpaid balance, the doctor will bill you for that amount.

You have excellent coverage with Medigap Plan G and the SilverScript SmartRx prescription
drug plan (also called a stand-alone drug plan). Below is some information to help make your
transition to Medicare go smoothly and to answer questions you may have.

Parts A & B

As you probably know, there’s no premium for your Part A coverage but there is a premium for
Part B. If you haven’t yet started receiving your Social Security payments, you will be billed
quarterly by Social Security for your Part B premiums. When you eventually begin receiving
Social Security benefits, your Part B premiums will be deducted from your monthly checks.

The standard Part B premium this year is $148.50 a month. But people with higher incomes
may pay more than that for Part B and for Part D. These additional amounts (or surcharges) are
called “Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts,” or IRMAA. These IRMAA payments for
Part B are billed by Social Security and by Medicare for Part D. Appendix A explains how these
additional amounts are determined.

Medigap Plan G

With Plan G, you have the most comprehensive Medigap plan available to someone your age.
The only gap in its coverage is the annual Part B deductible, which this year is $203. Once
you’ve paid the annual deductible each year, you won’t have any co-payments for Medicare-
covered services.

Perhaps the best feature of Medigap policies is the flexibility they give you in choosing your
medical providers. There are no networks, and with a Medigap policy you will be covered when
you see any provider who accepts Medicare (as some 99% of doctors and public hospitals do).