Like a lot of recent retirees, I didn't really know an awful lot about Medicare when I retired. Yes, I knew that it helped older people like myself to pay for medical expenses, and I'd heard some of the political controversies surrounding the program, but I never really looked into it very much. After all, Medicare had to do with retirees, and since I wasn't one of them, I really only half paid attention.

Well, nothing quite focuses your attention on Medicare than to find oneself dependent on it! Suddenly the issues involving Medicare were not a political abstraction applying to people other than myself, but were actually real life concerns affecting me personally. All of a sudden I was faced with new questions: If my doctor subscribes expensive medications, will Medicare cover them? What exactly does Medicare cover? And just as important, what does it not?

That is when I began to realize that while Medicare is in many ways a wonderful program that is of great help in paying for my medical expenses in my senior years, it does not pay for everything all the time. In talking with my fellow retirees at the Senior Center I discovered that I can't always know in advance what my medical issues may be and whether Medicare will cover all of them.

That's when I was told about the advantages of  California medicare supplement Insurance, which is an insurance policy that will step in to cover costs if it turns out that Medicare will not pay the full amount of my medical bills. I was glad to discover that such insurance is generally not very expensive and is well worth the cost when I consider how it can give me peace of mind. As far as I'm concerned, every senior citizen should consider buying Medicare Supplemental Insurance.