Cheap Health Insurance :Medicare: What’s Covered and What’s Not

Author: admin, May 31st, 2010

Medicare can be confusing. There are a number of pieces to the Medicare puzzle, and understanding how they fit together and where there are gaps is important to knowing where Medicare coverage begins and ends.  For the official U.S. Government perspective on Medicare, visit

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Article Content:
Medicare – What’s Covered and What’s Not
Medicare can be confusing. There are a number of pieces to the Medicare puzzle, and understanding how they fit together and where the gaps are is important to knowing where Medicare coverage begins and ends. For the official U.S. Government perspective on Medicare, visit the Medicare Options Compare website. Remember that Medicare is a financial tool and should be used with your own common sense to determine things you may also want above and beyond Medicare.

Pieces of the Medicare Puzzle
Medicare comes in four parts, with variations, and can be supplemented with other health insurance options purchased privately or from an employer retirement plan. The four parts of Medicare have evolved over time, and names have changed, too. They are now known as Part A (Hospitalization), Part B (Medical), Part C (Medicare Advantage), and Part D (Prescription). The other popularly known piece of the puzzle is Medigap, which is private insurance that supplements the other parts.

Part A: Hospitalization 
If you end up in the hospital, you’re likely to have significant medical bills. Medicare Part A, hospitalization insurance, is intended to help you reduce your liability for those charges that occur when you are in a hospital, a skilled nursing facility, or hospice, along with some home health care expenses.

View an Instructive Diagram of Medicare Part A Coverage

What is and is not payable under the plan is always changing – new items are added regularly, and things that you might have had last year may no longer be covered. You should check with your provider to determine what they believe is covered – and hold them to it. If in doubt about coverage of specific items, check with the Medicare Coverage website.

 

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com.

 This post originally appeared at HealthCentral.com at http://www.healthcentral.com/caregiver/c/76590/29443/medicare-covered

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Categories: Health Insurance Information Tags: General, Health Insurance, medicare, medicare advantage, medicare part a, medicare part b, medicare prescription