Elementary Consumers Guide To Understanding Your Medicare Coverage And Costs In America

Written By: Shawn Cook on September 3, 2010 No Comment

If you are an American close to age 65, you are probably thinking about Medicare. If you are 65 or over, you are probably dealing with it. Medicare was started as a government provided health insurance program in 1965. It seems to be constantly evolving towards greater complexity. Hopefully the following information will aid you in understanding your Medicare coverage

Some of the complexity of Medicare is due to the fact that it contains multiple parts. These parts operate independently to a considerable extent, but there are also some areas where they work together. We are going to take a brief look at each of the parts. Note that the coverages and dollar amounts given here are for 2009 or 2010.

Medicare Part A covers hospitalization. It covers all but $1,068 of the first 60 days of hospitalization. It pays a declining portion of the costs for the next 90 days, and nothing after that. It will cover part of the costs for stays in a skilled nursing facility, under fairly strict conditions. People who have worked at least 10 years on jobs covered by Social Security do not have to pay for Part A. Others $254 or $461 per month, depending on their years of Social Security coverage.

Part B pays for most medical expenses, excluding hospitalization and many medications. It is medical insurance in other words. Canes, eyeglasses following cataract surgery, and many other kinds of medical equipment may be covered. The cost of Part B for vast majority of people is $96.40 per month. Married couples with more than $170,000 and individuals with more than $85,000 of annual income pay at least $134.90, up to $308.30 per month.

Medicare Part C is also referred to as Medicare Advantage. This part is optional. It integrates the other parts of Medicare with coverage provided by private health insurance companies. It is difficult to summarize because this is done in many different ways with many different cost structures. Many people who already have health plans that they like have chosen Medicare Advantage so that they can gain the financial advantages of Medicare with minimal changes to their health plans.

Part D, which covers prescription drugs, is also optional and also consists of many different plans with different rules. Part D plans may combined into Medicare Advantage Plans. They are private insurance products.

Medicare Supplement Plans are also referred to as Medigap. They are private health insurance plans that cover some of the gaps in Medicare. Newer Medigap plans can cover Parts A and B, but not Part D. A person cannot have both a Medigap plan and Medicare Advantage Coverage.

Those are some of the highlights of Medicare coverage. Clearly there is a lot more to it than this. Unfortunately, fully understanding your Medicare coverage can be a big job.

Do you have questions about the new medigap and Medicare Benefits? Well, if you do, you should check into our information we have to give you. You can get Medicare Supplement easy and fast like you should with us.