Medicare part A and B are the two government run parts of Medicare.
Medicare Part A helps cover your inpatient care in hospitals (critical access hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities), skilled nursing facilities after a hospital stay, and Religious Nonmedical Health Care Institutions. Part A also helps cover hospice services and home health care services. Medicare doesn’t cover custodial or long-term care. You must meet certain conditions to get these benefits.
Cost: Most people are automatically enrolled in Part A and don’t have to pay a monthly premium if they or a spouse paid Medicare taxes while they were working. If you (or your spouse) didn’t pay Medicare taxes while you worked and you are age 65 or older, you may still be able to apply for Part A, but you will have to pay a premium. You pay up to $423 each month in 2009 if you don’t get premium-free Part A. This amount changes each year.
Medicare Part B helps cover medically-necessary services like doctors’ services, outpatient care, and other medical services that Part A doesn’t cover. Part B is optional. Part B helps pay for covered medical services and items when they are medically necessary.
Cost: Most people will pay the standard monthly Part B premium of $115.40 for 2011, but some people will pay a higher premium based on their income. If you are single (file an individual tax return) and your yearly modified adjusted gross income is more than $82,000 or if you are married (file a joint tax return) and it is more than $164,000, your monthly Medicare Part B premium may be higher than the standard premium. These amounts change each year.
Also, in some cases, your monthly premium amount may be higher if you didn’t sign up for Part B when you first became eligible. The cost of Part B may go up 10% for each 12-month period that you could have had Part B but didn’t sign up for it.
You will have to pay this extra amount as long as you have Part B, except in special cases. You can find out if you have Medicare Part A and B by looking at your Medicare card.
