Medicare Overview

The best place to learn about Medicare is at Medicare.gov, the official Medicare website created and managed by the federal government. The following is from their website:

Part A (Hospital Insurance)

Helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care.

Part B (Medical Insurance)

Helps cover services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment (like wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and other equipment), many preventive services (like screenings, shots or vaccines, and yearly “Wellness” visits)

Part D (Drug Coverage)

Helps cover the cost of prescription drugs (including many recommended shots or vaccines). You join a Medicare drug plan in addition to Original Medicare, or you get it by joining a Medicare Advantage Plan with drug coverage. Plans that offer Medicare drug coverage are run by private insurance companies that follow rules set by Medicare.

Your Medicare options

When you first sign up for Medicare and during certain times of the year, you can choose which way to get your Medicare coverage. There are two main ways:

Original Medicare

  • You can join a separate Medicare drug plan to get Medicare drug coverage (Part D).
  • You can use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the U.S.
  • To help pay your out-of-pocket costs in Original Medicare (like your coinsurance), you can also buy supplemental coverage, like Medicare Supplement Insurance Medigap, or have coverage from a former employer or union, or Medicaid.

Medicare Advantage (also known as Part C)

  • 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.
  • In most cases, you’ll need to use doctors who are in the plan’s network.
  • Plans may have lower out-of-pocket costs than Original Medicare.
  • Plans may offer some extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover — like vision, hearing, and dental services.

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We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.