{"id":5620,"date":"2019-02-05T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billlosey.com\/?p=5620"},"modified":"2019-02-05T12:00:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:00:12","slug":"%ef%bb%bfthe-a-b-c-d-of-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/%ef%bb%bfthe-a-b-c-d-of-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffThe A, B, C, & D of Medicare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Breaking down the basics\n& what each part covers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether your 65th birthday is\non the horizon or decades away, you should understand the parts of Medicare \u2013\nwhat they cover and where they come from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parts A & B: Original\nMedicare. <\/strong>There are two components.\nPart A is hospital insurance.<\/em> It provides coverage for inpatient stays\nat medical facilities. It can also help cover the costs of hospice care, home\nhealth care, and nursing home care \u2013 but not for long and only under certain\nparameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seniors are frequently warned\nthat Medicare will only pay for a maximum of 100 days of nursing home care\n(provided certain conditions are met). Part A is the part that does so. Under\ncurrent rules, you pay $0 for days 1-20 of skilled nursing facility (SNF) care\nunder Part A. During days 21-100, a $170.50 daily coinsurance payment may be\nrequired of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part B is medical insurance\nand can help pick up some of the tab for physical therapy, physician services,\nexpenses for durable medical equipment (hospital beds, wheelchairs), and other\nmedical services, such as lab tests and a variety of health screenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part B isn\u2019t free. You pay\nmonthly premiums to get it and a yearly deductible (plus 20% of costs). The\npremiums vary according to the Medicare recipient\u2019s income level. The standard\nmonthly premium amount is $135.50 this year. The current yearly deductible is\n$185. (Some people automatically receive Part B coverage, but others must sign\nup for it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part C: Medicare Advantage\nplans.<\/strong> Insurance companies offer\nthese Medicare-approved plans. To keep up your Part C coverage, you must keep\nup your payment of Part B premiums as well as your Part C premiums. To say not\nall Part C plans are alike is an understatement. Provider networks, premiums,\ncopays, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket spending limits can all vary widely, so\nshopping around is wise. During Medicare\u2019s annual Open Enrollment Period\n(October 15 – December 7), seniors can choose to switch out of Original\nMedicare to a Medicare Advantage plan or vice versa; although, any such move is\nmuch wiser with a Medigap policy already in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a Medigap plan\ndiffer from a Part C plan?<\/strong> Medigap\nplans (also called Medicare Supplement plans) emerged to address the gaps in\nPart A and Part B coverage. If you have Part A and Part B already in place, a\nMedigap policy can pick up some copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles for\nyou. You pay Part B premiums in addition to Medigap plan premiums to keep a\nMedigap policy in effect. These plans no longer offer prescription drug\ncoverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part D: prescription drug\nplans.<\/strong> While Part C plans commonly\noffer prescription drug coverage, insurers also sell Part D plans as a\nstandalone product to those with Original Medicare. As per Medigap and Part C\ncoverage, you need to keep paying Part B premiums in addition to premiums for\nthe drug plan to keep Part D coverage going.\n\nEvery Part D plan has a formulary, a list of\nmedications covered under the plan. Most Part D plans rank approved drugs into\ntiers by cost. The good news is that Medicare\u2019s website will determine the best\nPart D plan for you. Go to medicare.gov\/find-a-plan to start your search; enter\nyour medications and the website will do the legwork for you.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Breaking down the basics & what each part covers. Whether your 65th birthday is on the horizon or decades away, you should understand the parts of Medicare \u2013 what they cover and where they come from. Parts A & B: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}