How Does Medicare Work?

Medicare is a federal health insurance program that provides benefits to American citizens and

permanent legal residents (of at least five continuous years) aged 65 and older, or who have a

qualifying disability or illness. Most people are automatically enrolled into Original Medicare,

Part A and Part B, when they become eligible; however, some people need to manually enroll

in Medicare. Medicare Part A is hospital insurance; Medicare Part B is medical insurance.

You may want to take a look at these Medicare plan options.

Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) gives you a way to get your Original Medicare

coverage through a private, Medicare-approved insurance company instead of directly through

the government. Medicare Advantage plans provide all your Medicare Part A and Part B

benefits other than hospice care, which Part A still covers. But many Medicare Advantage

plans include extra benefits, such as routine dental and vision services. And most Medicare

Advantage plans include prescription drug coverage, letting you get all your Medicare benefits

through a single plan. You still need to continue paying your Medicare Part B monthly

premium, besides any premium the Medicare Advantage plan might charge.

If you stay with Original Medicare, be aware that prescription drugs aren’t covered in most

situations. Medicare Part D offers prescription drug coverage through private, Medicare-

approved insurance companies. You may want to consider adding a stand-alone Medicare

Prescription Drug Plan.

If you decide to stay with Original Medicare, another option you may have is to sign up for a

Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance plan to help pay for Original Medicare’s out-of-

pocket costs. Different Medigap plans pay for different amounts of those costs, such as

copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.

Availability and costs of Medicare plan options may vary from one insurance company to

another, and from one geographic area to another.

If you’d like to see what Medicare plans are available where you live, just enter your zip code

where indicated on this page.

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