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Learn how a Medicare Advantage plan may be right for you.
What does Original Medicare cover?
Original Medicare
Offered by the federal government
Part A | Part B |
|---|---|
Helps pay for hospital stays and inpatient care | Helps pay for doctor visits and outpatient care |
What other choices do you have?
You can buy more coverage. Private insurance companies sell different plans that cover different items and services.
| Choice A | Choice B |
|---|---|
| Add one or both of these to Original Medicare: | Choose a Medicare Advantage plan: |
| Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) Helps pay some costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover | Part C Combines Part A and Part B |
| Medicare Part D plan Helps pay for prescription drugs | Part D Often includes prescription drug coverage |
| Other benefits not offered by Original Medicare |
Medicare Advantage: everything you get with Original Medicare, plus more
Medicare Advantage plans cover services that Original Medicare doesn’t. And many plans offer much more. See the coverage you could get from a Medicare Advantage plan.
Medicare Advantage Vs. Original Medicare
Improved health: Medicare Advantage plans support your primary care doctor’s care plan. They help ensure you get preventive care like wellness visits, tests, checkups and vaccines. With Medicare Advantage plans, members are often healthier and need less acute and chronic care.
Cost savings: Medicare Advantage limits the total amount you pay for covered services. With Original Medicare, you pay 20% of the cost for covered services, with no limit to your total costs. You can buy a supplement plan to help with those costs. And you can add a Medicare Part D plan to cover prescription drugs. But a Medicare Advantage plan may offer you everything you need, all in one plan. Be sure to look carefully at your choices, so you can find a plan that best fits your needs.
Members Give High Marks to Their Medicare Advantage Plans
- 90% are satisfied with their Medicare Advantage plan
- 87% are satisfied with the preventive care their Medicare Advantage plan offers
A few important things to know about Medicare Advantage
- A Medicare supplement insurance plan (Medigap policy) is not a Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare supplement plans are health insurance policies and are secondary to Original Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans combine Original Medicare Parts A and B, and sometimes Part D, into a single plan.
- Medicare Advantage has you covered. Medicare Advantage plans must cover all the services that Original Medicare covers, and may offer additional benefits. Hospice care is still covered under Original Medicare. You may also receive more benefits if you have TRICARE for Life or VA coverage.
- You have a built-in financial safety net. Your plan’s annual out-of-pocket maximum is your safety net that ensures you’ll never pay more than a certain amount out of pocket in a given plan year for covered medical services.
Questions?
Whether you’ve just started thinking about Medicare or already have a plan, there’s plenty of help. There are several ways to learn about your Medicare coverage options.
- You can review the CMS website at www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
- You can contact Medicare Advantage health plans directly for information about the plans they offer.
Call Us
We’re always ready to help with questions. You can reach us at (508) 595-2550, or reach our Medicare Education Specialist, Cheryl Owoc, at (508) 713-2039.
