Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) helps cover:
Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) helps cover:
Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage):
Medicare Part D (Medicare prescription drug coverage):
When you first enroll in Medicare, you’ll have Original Medicare, unless you make another choice. Here are the different ways you can get your Medicare coverage:
1. You can stay in Original Medicare. If you want prescription drug coverage, you’ll need to join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D). If you don’t join a Medicare drug plan when you’re first eligible and you don’t have other creditable prescription drug coverage, you may pay a late enrollment penalty if you choose to join later. See pages 90–92 for more information about the late enrollment penalty.
2. You can choose to join a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) if one’s available in your area. The Medicare Advantage Plan may include Medicare prescription drug coverage. In most cases, you must take the drug coverage that comes with the Medicare health plan if it’s offered. In some types of plans that don’t offer drug coverage, you may be able to join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
Before making any decisions, learn as much as you can about the types of coverage available to you. The next 2 pages include information to help you with your coverage choices. If you need more information, you can:
1. Visit the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov/find-a-plan. [2]
2. Get personalized counseling about choosing coverage. See page 121 for the phone number of your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).
3. Call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) and say “Agent.” TTY users should call (877) 486-2048.
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Links
[1] https://texaslawhelp.org/directory/court/us-department-health-and-human-services
[2] https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/questions/home.aspx
[3] https://www.medicare.gov/pubs/pdf/10050-Medicare-and-You.pdf