Original Medicare
Part A goes toward hospital stays, and Part B toward doctor visits and tests.
Medicare, one page at a time
Find the Medicare plan that fits the way you live
Costs, doctors and medicine, set side by side so you can weigh a plan before you commit to it.
What you can read about here
How Medicare splits into parts
Care that sits inside a plan
What your card picks up once you are covered
Doctor visits
Checkups, follow ups and the specialist you get sent on to.
Hospital stays
A room, nursing care and the tests ordered while you are in.
Prescriptions
The medicine you pick up each month at a pharmacy counter.
Yearly checkups
Screenings and shots that catch trouble while it is still small.
Lab work
Blood draws, scans and the results your doctor reads after.
Home equipment
A walker, a wheelchair or oxygen your doctor says you need.
What makes this different
Medicare explained first, decisions second.
Medicare mail assumes you already know the words. Here the parts, the plan types and the dates are set out in plain language, with no pitch attached.
Plain language first
Choices side by side
Questions answered
No pressure to act
How I work with you
Four steps, no pressure
Tell me the basics
Send me the plan you carry now, the doctors you like and the drugs you take.
1
See it side by side
I line your choices up next to each other, cost by cost, in one place.
2
Ask what you want
Ask me anything about refills, copays or timing. Small questions count too.
3
Enroll and keep it
When a plan looks right for you, sign up and keep a copy of the details.
4
Questions that come up most
Asked and answered
Most people get a seven month window that opens three months before the month they turn 65 and closes three months after it. If you or a spouse are still working and covered by that job, a later window may apply to you. Current plans can also be swapped during a fixed stretch near the end of the year.
An Advantage plan replaces the way Original Medicare pays your bills and usually asks you to stay inside a network. A supplement sits on top of Original Medicare and helps with the share you would owe. You can hold one or the other, never both at once.
It is worth thinking about even when the cabinet is empty. Going without drug coverage for a long stretch can add a lasting charge to the premium later on, and health can change quickly. A low cost plan now often works out cheaper than waiting.
Yes, and plenty of people do. Once a year there is a set stretch of weeks for switching, and Advantage members get one more chance early in the year. Some life events, such as moving home, open a window of their own outside those dates.
That depends on the plan. Networks are set by the insurer and they can shift from one year to the next, so the safest move is to check the current list and ring your doctor's office first. Send me the names you care about and I will look them up one by one.
Notes sent back to me
What people say about it
Frances Dowd
I had gone over the same rules four times and still felt lost. One page here and the difference between the two paths finally stuck with me.
Wayne Kessler
I asked about a refill that kept costing more than I expected. The reply came in writing and pointed at the pharmacy list, not a sales pitch.
Lorna Bishop
After going through the details I chose to stay put for another year. Being told that was a fine answer is why I came back a year later.
Vernon Ashby
Turning 65 crept up on me and I had no idea a window was closing. The timing page put the weeks in order and I sorted it with time to spare.