Summary: What is Medicare Part A? What does it cover? What does it not cover? What are the costs?
Medicare is defined according to Medicare.gov (the official site for Medicare) as “the federal health insurance program for people who are age 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Failure (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a transplant, sometimes called ERSD)”.
This article is part of a series of articles:
- Medicare Overview
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
- Medicare Part C
- Medicare Part D
- Medicare Part E? Medicare Supplements
What does Medicare Part A cover?
Part A is designed to cover services such as hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, nursing home care, hospice, and home health services.
What does Part A and Part B not cover?
Neither Part A or Part B cover services such as:
- Long-term care
- Routine dental or eye care
- Dentures
- Cosmetic surgery
- Acupuncture
- Hearing Aids
- Routine footcare
What are the premiums of Medicare Part A?
Part A can be free (in terms of premiums) if you are 65 years of age or older, currently receiving or eligible to receive retirement benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board, or your spouse had Medicare-governed government employment. You may also be eligible for free premiums if you are under age 65 if you have received at least 24 months of Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board disability benefits or you have end-stage renal disease (ESRD). If you don’t qualify for free premiums for Part A, costs can be up to $451/month. In most cases, you are also required to purchase Part B when you have Part A.
The next few articles will delve into each part of Medicare and outline the coverage as well as the costs. Medicare has become very complex and a refresher on exactly which parts cover which areas might help to provide clarification.
Open Enrollment
Don’t forget open enrollment for Medicare is October 15-December 7, 2012. This is your time to make any changes to your Medicare plans as well as enroll in additional plans.
Comments
We invite all comments regarding this article. What are your thoughts on Medicare? What are your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act and Medicare? Do you think the system is working? Do you think Medicare should be regulated and administered at the individual state level? How will the healthcare insurance exchanges impact Medicare?
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