Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities and medical conditions.  The different parts of Medicare help cover specific services:

• Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance)
  • Inpatient care in hospitals
  • Skilled nursing facility care
  • Hospice care
  • Home healthcare
• Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance)
  • Services from doctors and other health care providers
  • Outpatient care
  • Home health care
  • Durable medical equipment
  • Many preventative services
• Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage)
  • Includes all benefits and services covered under Part A and Part B
  • Usually includes Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D) as part
    of the plan
  • Run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies that follow
    rules set by Medicare
  • Plans have a yearly limit on your out-of-pocket costs for medical
    services
  • May include extra benefits and services that aren’t covered by Original
    Medicare, sometimes for an extra cost
• Medicare Part D (Prescription Drug Coverage)
  • Helps cover the cost of prescription drugs
  • Run by Medicare-approved drug plans that follow rules set by Medicare
  • May help lower your prescription drug costs and help protect against
    higher costs in the future

We’ll cover the when’s and how’s of enrolling in forthcoming articles.

Source: medicare.gov