Selling to seniors means working with Medicare, Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies, Medicare Advantage and Part D, Medicaid / long-term care, and stand-alone long-term care (LTC) insurance—an area with strong consumer protections because buyers are often vulnerable. This guide reviews the national fundamentals and then focuses on Indiana specifics: Medigap regulation and disclosures, the Indiana Long-Term Care Insurance Program (Partnership), and the replacement and suitability rules that protect older Indiana consumers.

The federal base: Medicare Parts A/B/C/D

Medicare is the federal program for people 65+ (and certain younger people with disabilities or ESRD):

• Part A — hospital/inpatient, skilled nursing (limited), hospice; usually premium-free for those with enough work credits. Skilled nursing coverage generally requires a qualifying prior inpatient hospital stay.
• Part B — physician/outpatient services, preventive care, durable medical equipment; carries a monthly premium.
• Part C (Medicare Advantage) — private plans that bundle Parts A and B (often with drug coverage) as an alternative to Original Medicare.
• Part D — prescription drug coverage sold by private insurers.

Eligibility is generally at age 65, or earlier with 24 months of Social Security disability (or immediately for ESRD/ALS).

Medicare Supplement (Medigap)

Medigap policies are sold by private insurers to fill Original Medicare's gaps—deductibles, coinsurance, and copays. They are federally standardized into lettered plans (A through N), so a "Plan G" offers the same core benefits from any company; insurers compete on price and service.

• The Medigap Open Enrollment Period is a 6-month window that begins when the applicant is age 65 or older AND enrolled in Part B. During it, coverage is guaranteed issue—no health-based decline or surcharge.
• After that window, insurers may use medical underwriting unless a separate guaranteed-issue right applies (for example, when a Medicare Advantage plan exits the area).

Medicare Advantage and Part D

• Medicare Advantage (Part C) replaces how you receive A and B through a private HMO/PPO plan approved by Medicare, often adding extras (dental, vision, drug coverage). It is not a supplement—you cannot pair Medigap with an Advantage plan.
• Part D drug plans carry their own enrollment periods and a late-enrollment penalty for those who delay without other creditable coverage.

A core distinction: Medigap supplements Original Medicare; Medicare Advantage replaces how you get it.

Indiana Medigap regulation: standardization, replacement, suitability

Indiana regulates Medigap sales closely through the Indiana Department of Insurance:

• Standardization. Indiana follows the federal lettered-plan standardization so policies are easy to compare and seniors are protected.
• Disclosures. Producers must deliver the "Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare" and an Outline of Coverage.
• Replacement. When a sale replaces an existing Medigap or LTC policy, the producer must deliver a replacement notice, compare benefits, and ensure the change genuinely benefits the client.
• Anti-duplication. Selling a second Medigap policy to someone who already has one, or coverage that duplicates Medicare, is a prohibited unfair practice.
• Free look. Medicare Supplement (and LTC) policies carry a free-look window during which the buyer may return the policy for a refund; for seniors this is commonly cited as 30 days—verify the current figure. Avoid twisting (misrepresentation to induce a switch).

Medicaid and long-term care

Medicaid in Indiana is the income- and asset-based program that, unlike Medicare, does pay for extended custodial long-term care for those who qualify financially:

• Applicants must meet income and asset limits; many seniors must spend down assets to become eligible.
• A look-back period (commonly cited as 5 years—verify) reviews asset transfers to discourage giving away assets to qualify.
• A community spouse is protected from full impoverishment through spousal asset/income allowances.

Medicare, by contrast, largely does not cover long-term custodial care—the gap the LTC insurance market exists to fill.

Long-term care insurance and the Indiana Partnership

Stand-alone LTC insurance covers nursing-home, assisted-living, and home care. Indiana follows the NAIC LTC model protections and runs a well-known Partnership program:

• Benefit triggers are typically the inability to perform a set number of activities of daily living (ADLs)—bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, continence—or cognitive impairment.
• LTC policies commonly cover nursing homes, assisted living, and home care, and may include respite care for informal caregivers.
• Inflation protection and nonforfeiture benefits must generally be offered, and tax-qualified policies must be guaranteed renewable.
• Policies generally cannot require prior hospitalization as a condition for benefits.
• Producer LTC training and suitability review are required before selling LTC.
• The Indiana Long-Term Care Insurance Program (the state's Partnership) links qualified private LTC policies to Medicaid asset protection: dollars paid by a qualifying Partnership policy let the insured shield an equal amount of assets if they later need Medicaid. Indiana is historically known for a strong, even total-asset, version of this protection—verify current rules.

Key Indiana numbers to memorize

Common exam traps

• Confusing Medigap with Medicare Advantage. Medigap supplements Original Medicare; Advantage (Part C) replaces how you get A/B—and you cannot hold both.
• Miscounting open enrollment. It is 6 months and requires both age 65 and Part B.
• Forgetting Part A's prior-stay rule. Medicare skilled-nursing coverage generally requires a qualifying inpatient hospital stay first.
• Selling duplicate coverage. A second Medigap policy is a prohibited practice.
• Assuming Medicare pays for long-term custodial care. It largely does not—Medicaid or LTC insurance fills that gap.
• Confusing Medicare with Medicaid. Medicare is federal, age-based; Medicaid is income/asset-based and central to Partnership asset protection.
• Asserting exact look-back or free-look figures. Treat them as statutory and verify.

Quick recap

Senior sales center on Medicare (Parts A/B/C/D), Medigap (federally standardized A–N), and long-term care. The headline protection is the 6-month Medigap open enrollment beginning at age 65 with Part B, which grants guaranteed issue. Indiana adds a senior free look (commonly 30 days), strict replacement and anti-duplication rules, and a suitability/twisting prohibition. Medicaid covers custodial long-term care for those who qualify after a spend-down and look-back, while stand-alone LTC insurance—triggered by loss of ADLs or cognitive impairment—must offer inflation protection and nonforfeiture and connects to the Indiana Long-Term Care Insurance Program (Partnership) for Medicaid asset protection. Remember "Medigap supplements, Advantage replaces," the 6-month window, and the 30-day senior free look—and verify any specific figure.