• Part A – Hospital Insurance

  • Covers inpatient care in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities and home health care

  • Most people won’t pay a premium for Part A

• Part B – Medical Insurance

  • Covers doctors’ services, hospital outpatient care, ambulance services, home health care and preventive services.

  • You pay a monthly premium (usually deducted from your Social Security check)

  • Together, Parts A and B make up Original Medicare (provided by the federal government)

• Part C – Medicare Advantage plan

  • Covers Medicare Parts A and B, and often Part D, plus it may offer other benefits.

  • You may pay a monthly premium to a private plan, and you continue to pay a premium to the federal government for Part B

  • Caps your out-of-pocket spending to protect your finances

  • May require you to see network doctors or specialists

• Part D – Medicare Prescription Drug Plan

  • Only covers prescription drugs.

  • You may pay a monthly premium to a private plan

  • A Part D plan can be purchased separately to go with Original Medicare

  • Often included in a Medicare Advantage plan

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Picking a plan that provides prescription drug coverage

It’s important to consider a plan that covers your current and future health needs together. Generally, Original Medicare doesn’t cover prescription medication, requiring you to add a separate prescription drug plan (Part D). If you’d rather have a single plan, most Medicare Advantage plans include prescription drug benefits.

Important to note: Adding prescription drug coverage at a later date may result in penalties.

When choosing any of these plans, consider:

• What drugs does my plan cover?

• Each Medicare drug plan has its own list of covered drugs, known as a formulary. The formulary places drugs into different prescription pricing tiers.

• What happens if my plan doesn’t cover my medication?

• Your doctor can request an exception to add it to the formulary. If the plan grants the exception, you’ll generally pay the highest pricing tier.

• Can I use the pharmacies I want?

• All Part D plans have a network of pharmacies you can use to fill your prescriptions. Some even have a list of preferred pharmacies where you can save more.