The Parts of Medicare

Medicare is health insurance for people 65 and older. It also can cover some people under 65 with certain disabilities. And it covers people of any age with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant) or ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease).

Your Medicare coverage choices may include:

• Original Medicare (Parts A and B)
• Medicare Advantage (Part C)
• Medicare Prescription Drug coverage (Part D)

A Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan can be added to cover eligible health care costs that Original Medicare (Medicare Parts A and B) don’t cover. It cannot be combined with a Medicare Advantage plan

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Part A typically covers:

• Inpatient care in a hospital
• Inpatient care in a skilled nursing facility (not custodial or long-term care)
• Hospice care
• Home health care

Medicare Advantage plans are an option for your Medicare coverage. They include Medicare Part A, Part B and may include Part D prescription drug coverage.

In general, Medicare Advantage:

• Includes all Part A and Part B benefits and services
• Usually includes Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D) as part of the plan
• Is run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies, like Allina Health | Aetna Medicare
• Includes added benefits and services not covered by Original Medicare

Plan options

The most common types of Medicare plans are:

• Health maintenance organization (HMO) plans – Provide coverage through a network of doctors and hospitals. Typically, you must use network providers unless it’s an emergency. If you don’t, your care may not be covered.
• Preferred provider organization (PPO) plans – Provide coverage through a network of doctors and hospitals. In a PPO plan, you can see a doctor in or out of network. Typically, it costs more to get care out of network.
• HMO point-of-service (HMO POS) plans – Provides coverage through a network of doctors and hospitals. You may be able to see a doctor out of the network for some services. The POS option provides more choice and flexibility. But some services aren't available outside the network of contracted providers.
• Special needs plans (SNP) –A special type of Medicare Advantage Plan that provides more focused health care for specific groups of people, such as those who have both Medicare and Medicaid.

There may be other types of Medicare plans available.