Medicare

Medicare is a health insurance program from the government. It’s mostly for people who are 65 or older. It also helps younger people with certain health problems and people with serious kidney disease.

What is Medicare?

• Part A (Hospital Insurance)
  • Helps pay for inpatient care you get in hospitals, critical access hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities. It also helps cover hospice care and some home health care.
• Part B (Medical Insurance)
  • Medicare Part B helps cover medical services like doctors’ services, outpatient care, and other medical services that Part A doesn’t cover.
• Part C (Medicare Advantage)
  • Medicare Advantage is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare for your health and drug coverage. These “bundled” plans include Part A, Part B, and usually Part D.
• Part D (Drug Coverage)
  • Helps pay for medicine your doctor prescribes. Private insurance companies run these plans.
• Medicare Supplement (Medigap)
  • Extra insurance you can buy from a private company that helps pay your share of costs in Original Medicare. Policies are standardized, and in most states named by letters, like Plan G or Plan N.

Who Can Get Medicare & When to Sign Up?

• Initial Enrollment Period
  • You have 7 months to sign up: 3 months before your 65th birth month and 3 months after.
• Open Enrollment Period
  • October 15 – December 7 each year. You can join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage or drug plans.
• Advantage Open Enrollment Period
  • January 1 – March 31 each year. If you have Medicare Advantage, you can switch or drop your plan.
• Special Enrollment Periods
  • You can sign up at other times if your life changes, like moving or losing other health insurance.
• Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment Period
  • Under federal law, you get a 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts the first month you have Medicare Part B and you’re 65 or older.