Understanding Medicare

Understanding Medicare What is Medicare?

This is a health insurance cover initiated by the government of the United States of America to help reduce the cost of health care for the people of United States of America. Many Americans were unable to meet the cost of their medical expenses hence this was brought into function to help deliver affordable health care to all people. The eligibility for Medicare benefits were that, you had to be 65 years or more and be an American citizen or residing in America legally and permanent for more than 5 consecutive years, for the disabled their qualification is automatic, in that age is not determined.

Parts of Medicare This plan is divided into four parts of insurance which are named in alphabetical order, that is A,B,C, and part D, the first part A is known as hospital insurance, part B known as medical insurance, part C known as Medicare advantage and part D known as prescription drug coverage. Parts A &B make up Original Medicare. These parts are important because they help you get plans from private insurance companies; private companies also sell a plan called Medicare supplementary insurance which is responsible for supplementing the missing benefits in the Original Medicare plan.

Part A covers the care given to the in-patient, facilities and nursing facilities while part B covers the visits by the doctor, medical services, preventive services and other specific services that are offered in the hospital. In part B unlike part A, you have to pay for a premium to access the benefits. Though for the Original Medicare is taken care of by the government of the United States of America

What is original Medicare?

This is a combination of the parts A and part B of the Original Medicare to make up one medical cover, to get this plan you must have been registered in both parts A and B, but this is not so difficult because if you qualified for Medicare it means you have been automatically registered in these both parts. Generally part A has no premium at all, part B has a premium.

What is Medicare advantage?

This involves part C of the Medicare program, however, in Medicare Advantage you still enjoy the benefits you are entitled to in parts A and B. there are types of Medicare advantage and these includes; health maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, private fee-for-services, special needs and medical savings account plans, which have a low cost compared to the Original Medicare.

Part D This is the only part in Medicare that provides the benefit of drug prescription, this is why it stands alone, this part can be signed as a stand-alone part or you can access it through Medicare Advantage plan. This part has a list of dugs it offers put in groups so if you are choosing part D you need to check out which group of drug suits you. Also note that this part, unlike part A and B it has a premium which is paid for

Why should you add insurance options?

Some insurance options are often added to the Original Medicare because the Original Medicare which only contains parts A and B is not able to cover everything needed for complete health care. This is where you have to purchase a supplementary insurance called Medicare Supplementary insurance plan. This plan comes in where the Original Medicare plan cannot cover some benefits. It is also called a medigap which means it bridges the gap left behind by the Original Medicare, the services left behind include; copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. There are changes though being introduced to the Medicare Supplementary insurance plan of 2019 as per the Medicare Supplement Plans 2020. This will have a few changes about the parts.

It is always important to understand well the insurance plans you are getting into before you accept to buy any. Know about the benefits you are entitled to as the insured and also you should know about the kind of premiums that are available before you purchase any.