Medicare

Parts of Medicare

Part A (Hospital Insurance)

Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care.

Part B (Medical Insurance)

Part B 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)

Part D 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.

Medicare Supplemental Insurance (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 K. The benefits in each lettered plan are the same, no matter which insurance company sells it.

Special Needs Plans

Medicare Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are a type of Medicare Advantage Plan that serve individuals with chronic or disabling conditions. These plans require eligible patients to receive care and services from doctors or hospitals in their Medicare SNP networks.

To be eligible for a special needs plan, an individual must fit into one of the following groups:

• People who live in certain institutions (like nursing homes) or who require nursing care at home

• People who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid

• People who have specific chronic or disabling conditions (like diabetes, End-Stage Renal Disease, HIV/AIDS, chronic heart failure, or dementia)

*Medicare.gov - Parts of Medicare 

**Medicare Special Needs Plans (SNPs)