Does Medicare Offer Life Insurance?
- Medicare does not cover life insurance coverage. However, Medicare and life insurance can work in tandem to provide financial assistance at the time of one’s passing.
Medicare does not offer life insurance coverage, and the two coverages are not related. Medicare and life insurance each play important roles in the financial security of an aging person and their loved ones, however.
In this guide, we examine the relationship between Medicare and life insurance and how each type of policy may be used for financial assistance near the end of one’s life.
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Medicare Vs. Life Insurance
Medicare is health insurance. Life insurance is life insurance. In other words, Medicare provides coverage for health care services and items while a person is still living.
Once a person has passed away, life insurance provides an inheritance of money to a surviving spouse, child, or other designated beneficiary.
The relationship between Medicare and life insurance is that life insurance assistance begins where Medicare assistance ends.
While a Medicare beneficiary is still living, Medicare will provide coverage for a wide range of health care that includes hospice and other end-of-life care.
Once the beneficiary passes away, their life insurance policy releases money to a surviving loved one that can be used to pay off any outstanding medical debt, pay for a funeral, or other costs related to the person’s death.
Some life insurance policies include living benefits, which allow the policyholder to access a portion of the death benefits while they are still living if they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
In such a case, a life insurance policy can even further supplement Medicare’s cost assistance because the money from the life insurance policy can be used simultaneously with Medicare’s benefits.
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Is There a Medicare Death Benefit?
Medicare does not provide a death benefit or any other type of payout to survivors of a beneficiary. However, Medicare beneficiaries are also typically collecting Social Security.
And Social Security provides a one-time death benefit payment of $255 along with survivor’s benefits, which is when a surviving spouse or child inherits the Social Security benefits of the deceased.
Where Can You Buy Both Medicare and Life Insurance?
Medicare and life insurance are two independent products, but it’s not uncommon for insurance companies to sell both. Just a few companies that sell both private Medicare plans and life insurance policies include:
Shop for life insurance or compare Medicare plans available in your area by contacting a licensed insurance agent.
