Medicare Part A covers hospital stays and inpatient care. In general, Part A covers:
You may have to pay various deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments if you are not enrolled in a Medicare supplement plan or Medicare Part C plan.
If you are 65 and you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years, you will not have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A. You may also not have to pay a premium if:
Part B covers thins like:
You pay a premium each month for Part B. Your Part B premium will be automatically deducted from your benefit payment if you are receiving:
If you are not receiving one of the benefit payments above, you will be billed for Part B.
Combines Part A (hospital), B (doctors) and most Medicare Advantage plans also include Part D (prescriptions).
In many areas, $0 monthly premium plans are available. No need to pay money for Medicare Supplement or Part D plan.
Medicare Advantage plans also include extra benefits such as:
Part D is an optional prescription drug coverage plan that covers medications.
Although Medicare Part D coverage is optional, it is a very valuable cost saver if you take medications.
Most Medicare Advantage plans include Part D coverage, therefore enrollment in stand-a-lone Medicare Part D plan is not required.
Each PDP has its own list of covered drugs (called a formulary). Drugs are placed into a “tier” on the formularies and each tier has a different cost. The lower the tier, the less the drug will cost.
Note: If you do not enroll in a Part D pan when you become eligible for Medicare and you do not have creditable drug or Medicare Advantage coverage, you will be assessed a late enrollment penalty equal to about 1% of the average monthly premiums for each month you delayed enrollment. The penalty must be paid as long as you are enrolled in a Part D.
A Med Supp or Medigap Plan helps to pay some of the cost that Medicare Part A and B do not, like coinsurance, copayments, or deductibles.
There are no provider networks with Medicare Supplement pans. Plans can be used with any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare.
Note: Generally, these plans don’t cover long-term care (like care in a nursing home), vision or dental care, hearing aids, private duty nursing or prescriptions drug plans.