Basic Benefits

• All Medigap plans, including the F plan, provide several basic benefits. These include coverage of co-insurance costs for hospitalization beyond 60 days, the cost of three pints of blood per year, and the 20 percent co-insurance costs for Medicare Part B after you have paid the deductible. Beginning June 1, 2010, Plan F will also cover co-insurance for hospice care, including outpatient prescription drugs and inpatient respite care.
  
  

Part A Deductible

• If you are hospitalized, the cost is covered by Medicare Part A. For each hospitalization, however, there is a deductible of $1,100 in 2010. Plan F will pay the Part A deductible for in-patient hospital care.
  
  

Skilled Nursing Care

• If you require care at a skilled nursing facility, Medicare pays for the first 20 days of coverage and Plan F provides coverage of co-insurance costs from days 21 to 100.
  
  

Part B Deductible

• Medicare Part B is the part of Medicare that covers doctors and other medical costs. The Part B annual deductible, which is $155 in 2010, is covered by the F plan.
  
  

Part B Excess

• Doctors are permitted to charge patients up to 15 percent more than the Medicare-approved amount for services, also know as Medicare assignment. If your doctor does not accept Medicare assignment, Plan F provides coverage for any excess charges.
  
  

Foreign Travel Emergency

• For the most part, Medicare does not cover care received outside the U.S. and U.S. territories. Under Plan F, you can be reimbursed for 80 percent of the cost of care that you receive in a foreign country. Keep in mind that the care must be for Medicare-covered expenses and must be considered a medically necessary emergency.
  
  

High-Deductible Plan F

• A high-deductible Plan F is available that provides identical benefits to the standard F plan, but has a $2,000 deductible in 2010. In other words, you would pay 100 percent of your medical costs, up to $2,000, before your coverage would begin. The benefit of these plans is that they tend to have lower monthly premiums.