A,B,C’s of Medicare

“I have been getting so much stuff in the mail about all these different plans on Medicare. What is the difference between plan A,B,C,D,F, and G?”. I have heard these words from clients turning 65 numerous times over the years. It is usually accompanied with some frustration and stress in their demeanor. Who can blame them? Not only is Medicare quite confusing for newcomers, but the turning 65 crowd gets absolutely overwhelmed with mailers, phone calls, and sometimes random door knocks. I just smile and tell my clients it’s all going to be okay. Congratulations on turning 65 and earning your well deserved Medicare health coverage! I’m here with you for the long haul. I’m going to help you understand at least the basics today. At this point, I usually start with “Original Medicare” and work my way from there. So let’s go over the basic parts of Medicare. I will go into more depth about each of these parts in later articles.

Part A: This is a part of original Medicare that covers inpatient care. Hospital stays and rehabilitation services are two of the major coverages.

Part B: This is a part of original Medicare that covers doctor visits, outpatient surgery, drugs administered in facility, etc.

Part C: This part of Medicare has not been around nearly as long as parts A and B. Part C usually combines all parts of Medicare into one plan through a private company that has a contract with Medicare. This probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to you right now but again, we will explore this in depth in upcoming articles...stay tuned!

Part D: Part D came into existence in the early 2000’s. This was a much needed addition to Medicare to help cover drug costs. This topic can be quite in-depth as well.

Part F, G, N: These parts are not actually parts of Medicare. These are Medigap or Medicare supplement plans. There are many other supplement plans as well but these are the most popular. In short, Medicare supplement plans cover all or most of what Medicare does not. This is a great option for newcomers to Medicare. I will explain the advantages of supplement plans after our series of the basics

I’m excited to share these articles with my fellow North Carolinians! Please reach out to me if you have specific questions about Medicare or need guidance. You can learn more at ncseniorsolutions.com Feel free to leave a comment or share your knowledge! Thanks for being here!