Supplementary Medical Insurance

Updated: 09 June 2023

What Does Supplementary Medical Insurance Mean?

Supplementary medical insurance is extra medical insurance coverage that is designed to complement another health insurance plan. Supplementary medical insurance is not supposed to be used on its own as standalone health insurance coverage. Instead, it fills in the coverage gaps of another medical insurance plan. Typically, an insured should not buy supplementary medical insurance unless they are already enrolled in a standard health insurance plan.

Insuranceopedia Explains Supplementary Medical Insurance

There are a number of different types of supplementary medical insurance plans. Some plans pay the fees in a regular medical insurance plan like the deductibles and coinsurance payments. Other plans pay for care that is not covered in a regular medical insurance plan, like dental and vision care. There are also supplementary medical insurance plans that give an insured short-term coverage when they temporarily don’t have coverage.

Supplementary medical insurance does not qualify as acceptable coverage under the Affordable Care Act. If an insured only has supplementary medical insurance and no other plan, they will still need to pay the tax penalty for being uninsured.

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