Can I keep a Medicare Supplement if I join Medicare Advantage?

No. You have one or the other, because a Medicare Supplement only pairs with Original Medicare. Going from Advantage back to a Supplement later can involve health questions unless you're in one of the guaranteed windows.

More detail

Here's where this comes up. Someone joins a Medicare Advantage plan and keeps paying for their old Medicare Supplement "just in case." But a Supplement can't pay your Advantage plan's copays, deductibles or premiums. And most Supplements don't cancel on their own when you join an Advantage plan. You have to contact the company.

Before you drop a Supplement, though, think it through. If it's your first time in Medicare Advantage, you get a trial period: leave within the first year and you may get your Supplement back if the company still sells it. After that, you may not be able to get it back, or it may cost more.

Also good to know: it's illegal for anyone to sell you a Supplement while you're in Medicare Advantage, unless you're switching back to Original Medicare.

What to have ready: your current Supplement policy and details of the Advantage plan you're considering.

Bring them to me, and I'll help you weigh the move before you make it.