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A guide to Medicare eligibility
Eligibility for Medicare coverage depends on factors that include your work history, health status, and residency status. Check your eligibility today.
How do I enroll in Medicare?
Learn how and when to enroll in Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D coverage. Get plan information and a free quote today.
Important Medicare enrollment dates
Enrollment dates for Medicare are critical. Missing an enrollment date could cost you higher premiums down the line — or it could cost you coverage entirely.
Is Original Medicare coverage enough?
If you shun private coverage, can you get by on Original Medicare without purchasing supplemental coverage (Medigap and Part D prescription coverage) or using a Medicare Advantage plan?
How are Medicare benefits changing for 2023?
Changes to 2023 Medicare coverage include a decrease in the standard Part B premium to $164.90 and a decrease in the Part B deductible to $226. Part A premiums, deductible and coinsurance are all increasing for 2023.
Sometimes called “Traditional Medicare,” Original Medicare is the fee-for-service program in which the government pays directly for healthcare costs beneficiaries incur. The coverage allows enrollees to see a doctor anywhere in the country (as long as the doctor accepts Medicare).
Original Medicare – signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 30, 1965 – consists of two parts:
Medicare Part A is called “hospital insurance” because it provides broad coverage of inpatient expenses, including not only hospital visits, but also care in skilled nursing facilities, hospice care, and home health services. The coverage is typically free if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes during the years you worked, although there are premiums of up to $506/month in 2023 if you and your spouse have little or no work history in the U.S.
While Part A basically covers inpatient services, Medicare Part B is also referred to as “medical insurance” because it covers medically necessary services – including physician and nursing fees, x-rays, diagnostic tests, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, renal dialysis, and some vaccinations – and also preventive services.
Enrollees pay a monthly Part B premium ($164.90/month for most enrollees as of 2023). Learn more about how to enroll in Part B.
Although most medically necessary services are covered by either Part A or Part B, most outpatient prescription drugs are not (Part D coverage is necessary for prescription benefits, unless a person has other creditable coverage, for example, coverage from a current or former employer). Dental care is also not covered under Original Medicare, and neither is routine vision care.
Unlike private health insurance plans, Original Medicare does not have a cap on out-of-pocket costs. So coinsurance charges continue to add up for the duration of a beneficiary’s treatment.
To cover some or all of the out-of-pocket costs that go along with Original Medicare, most enrollees have supplemental coverage, either from