As you get involved in the Medicare system,
you'll see there's
these different letters that represent
different types of coverages by Medicare,
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Now today's topic is actually a question.
And the question is this What are
the four parts of Medicare?
so let's look at details of these letters.
So the first part is part A now part A is called
actually hospitalization.
At least that's what's on your Medicare card.
But what part is doing is who's covering
all your inpatient type services.
So this means that somebody
has been admitted to the hospital.
They're not under observation
that's outpatient,
but they've been admitted to the hospital,
so part A is going to cover the bills.
This would be nursing services and room and board
and the different tests that the hospital may run.
While you're being admitted so A is going to pay those bills.
Now Part B is covering
those things that are outpatient related.
And so this would be as someone goes in for an MRI
or maybe they have
cataract surgery or maybe a knee replacement,
or they go see a doctor.
All the the outpatient type services,
including all doctor related services,
are going to be covered by B.
Now there's also something else
covered by B it's a little bit surprising,
and that would be all the doctors
that actually take care of you while you're in the hospital.
So B covers all physicians, whether that's inpatient
or outpatient.
A took care of the facilities,
but B is going to take care of the doctors
that take care of you in those facilities.
This would be hospitalist, emergency room doctors,
surgeons, anesthesiologist
and so all the doctors are covered by B
where they take care of you in or outpatient.
So B is going to pay for those types of services.
Now, most people that decide to stay in original Medicare
are also going to get a supplemental plan.
And so what
supplemental plans do is they supplement the gaps
that A and B did not cover.
So A and B pays first,
but Medicare pays first, and there's always
some financial responsibility that you have.
And so people who stay in A and B
will typically get a supplemental plan
to fill in those gaps.
And so there's actually three gaps on the A
and three gaps on the B.
And so what people do,
they'll get a supplemental plan,
a Medigap policy to fill in those gaps
so they do not have to pay for those financially.
All right.
So that's what supplemental plans do
they're supplementing original Medicare A and B
now the third part of Medicare is actually called a C plan
now, A and B actually started in 1965
as supplemental plans began at the same time.
But in 2003, under the second George
Bush administration, Medicare came up with an alternative
to original Medicare A and B, and they gave it
the letter C to represent those plans.
We call those in the marketplace Advantage plans.
And so Advantage plans actually replace A and B.
So when you go on Medicare,
you're either going to stay in A and B
probably get a supplemental plan or
you will not stay in A and B you will actually get a C plan.
And so that means that now you have a private health
insurance company
that's replaced A and B, now you're still on Medicare.
But when it comes to the bills and all the rules,
it is the private health insurance company
that is going to dictate those rules
and now be financially responsible for you.
That's an advantage plan that is Part C, OK,
so it's either this or it's that by itself.
Now we also have to have a drug plan,
and those are called Part D.
Now this is the self-administered drug,
so this should be your cholesterol meds
or high blood pressure meds or heart medication,
the things that you actually take on your own.
Now the truth is part
C and B, these actually will pay for medications,
but those are professionally administered medications.
But the medications that we take on our own,
those are going to be covered by drug plans.
So you're going to notice here
that when we buy a drug plan,
if I stay in this original Medicare A and B,
my drug plan is going to be standalone.
It's actually a separate plan,
separate policy, separate premium.
Usually even a different company.
But if I take a C plan, what happen is that drug
plan is embedded within the Advantage plan,
so it's actually C and D,
and so they will embed a prescription drug plan.
So we all need to have some type of a drug component,
and that's what the Part D plans are for it.
So when people go on Medicare, here's the way it works.
They can have A and B
get a supplemental plan to fill in the gaps.
Most people buy an F a G, or an N Plan
and then they add to that a drug plan.
That's one option.
The other option is to get
a Medicare Advantage plan called the C,
and they will add a D plan to that.
So Medicare Advantage covers this on the medical side,
inpatient, outpatient
and the drug plan is going to take care
of our self-administered prescription drugs. All right.
So those are the four parts of Medicare A, B, C and D.
Hey, thanks so much for watching the video,
and I do hope that it was helpful.
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