What is the Best Medicare Supplement Plan for Kidney Transplant?

Hi @donnabee, you and your brother are wise to ask about insurance coverage as he prepares for kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic. You may wish to contact Mayo Clinic Insurance (Patient Account Services) to find out what they recommend. Here's the contact info: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance/contact-us

@coastalgirl @maryflorida @cehunt57 @cmael @pdennis may also have personal experience or further tips to offer.

Donna, your brother likely also has access to a transplant social worker at Mayo Clinic. They are a wealth of helpful information. You'll want to be sure to get information specific to the Mayo Clinic location he is attending. Where is he listed? How is he doing?

Is he a veteran? It seems they took care of my husband's kidney transplant almost totally. His transplant is 3 years old now and the kidney is fine. The primary thing, after transplant, is to set his alarm to never miss his medicine. (Well, maybe once a year is ok.) My husband has his alarm set for 8 am and 8 pm to take his meds.
I think that may be a big factor in avoiding rejection, but that is my non-medical opinion.

Hi @donnabee,
I'm a Kidney Transplant Social Worker at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. Here in Jacksonville, patients can have any supplement. The best way to compare supplements available to your brother is on Medicare.gov - https://www.medicare.gov/medigap-supplemental-insurance-plans/#/m?year=2022&lang=en.
You enter his zip code and can compare the plans available in his area. Medicare.gov is also a great site to compare Medicare Part D Drug coverage plans too.

If you want to make the supplement you choose works at his transplant center, you should be able to speak with a Transplant Financial Coordinator at the center and they can confirm the supplement is not a problem for them. If you tell me which center he is working with, I can locate a Transplant Financial Coordinator contact number for you.

@cehunt57 (Cheryl) here responding to post about Medicare and transplants. I had a pancreas transplant in 2005 when I was 48 years old. I was on disability then and also ended up on Medicare part A. It was so long ago I’m not even sure how it came about. In the past two years my husband had changes in his employment/insurance (I was a dependent on his insurance) due to COVID and his own health situations. We found out that Medicare was considered to be my primary insurance. We did a bunch of research into Medicare options (webinars, an agent referred to us by our life insurance and someone else recommended by AAA). I have CKD and have been told that dialysis &/or kidney transplant is in my future. I ended up with Medicare Parts A, B and D plus a supplement. That was during 1920 - 1922. I turned 65 earlier this year my husband turns 65 next month. There is no shortage of Medicare Info coming in the mail. We are revisiting the topic and looking for referrals to experts from trusted sources.

I apologize for the late reply.

@donnabee Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Fl was where I had my kidney transplant. I must say, once I was registered and with Mayo, they took care of everything. I had a team that included a social worker that an appointment was scheduled with just through the normal course of scheduling that Mayo handled and they had all the coverage information available when I came for the appointment.

Before initially scheduling an appointment, Mayo reached out to my insurance carrier to see if a referral was needed or any additional requirements prior to scheduling but you could certainly join in that process to expedite the process. Your insurance company will probably assign a specific contact for you that you can have direct access to for questions during the process.

God's speed, and many blessings.