MEDICARE

I'm Turning 65, Now What?

Learn all about how to effectively transition to Medicare by clicking the button below. For more information about Medicare Insurance, keep reading!

Medicare Insurance

Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older. You’re first eligible to sign up for Medicare 3 months before you turn 65. You may be eligible to get Medicare earlier if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Original Medicare is a fee-for-service health insurance program that has 2 parts: Part A and Part B. You typically pay a portion of the costs for covered services as you get them. Under Original Medicare, you don’t have coverage through a Medicare Advantage Plan or another type of Medicare health plan.

Generally, you only need to sign up for Part A and Part B once. Each year, you can choose which way you get your health coverage (and add or switch drug coverage).

Medicare is different from private insurance - it doesn’t offer plans for couples or families. You don’t have to make the same choice as your spouse.

Your Medicare Options

Original Medicare

Original Medicare includes Part A and Part B.
Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home healthcare.
Part B Helps cover 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), and many preventive services (like screenings, shots or vaccines, and yearly “Wellness” visits).

You can join a separate Medicare drug plan to get Medicare drug coverage (Part D).
You can use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the U.S.
To help pay your out-of-pocket costs in Original Medicare (like your 20% coinsurance), you can also buy supplemental coverage, like Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap), or have coverage from a former employer or union, or Medicaid.

Medicare Advantage (also known as Part C)

Medicare Advantage is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare for your health and drug coverage. These “bundled” plans include Part A, Part B, and usually Part D.
In most cases, you’ll need to use doctors who are in the plan’s network.
Plans may have lower out-of-pocket costs than Original Medicare.
Plans may offer some extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover — like vision, hearing, and dental services.