What I Learned from Reading Medicare for Dummies

Medicare for Dummies by Patricia Barry

Chapter 1: Nuts and Bolts (pp. 9 - 18) #

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Medicare part A - you already paid this, through your paychecks and taxes.
Medicare part B - you have to pay a monthly premium, like it's health insurance.
Yearly cap on out of pocket? Yes in (C) but NOT in (A, B)
"Medigap" is what people buy as a cushion against the "sky is the limit" maximum out of pocket costs

Medicare has 4 parts:

• Nursing stuff (A)
• Doctoring stuff (B)
• "Let's use a company like Blue Cross instead of Parts A|B"
• Pharmacy prescriptions (a subset of D, added during the Bush admin)

Some preventative cares (B):

• diabetes screening, training
• flu shots
• any doc ordered blood, urine test
• exams of prostate, colon
• any doc ordered imaging
• annual wellness check up

End of life! (A):

• hospice
• palliative

Old people living out their last years in a nursing home

• pay with your own money...til you're broke
• once you're broke you apply for Medicaid and that pays for a much worse nursing home

Long hospital recoveries:
Days 1 - 60 are paid but then the co-pay becmes $300 and then $600 a day

Strange surprising part:

1. Medicare costs money. It's a kind of health insurance company (by the US government) that has low premiums, cannot refuse you, BUT
2. will make you pay an elevated fee for the rest of your life (!) if you forget to join when you turn 65 or within a few months of leaving your work insurance if you are over 65.
3. Here is a screenshot of that confusing point:
   (screeenshot to go here from Medicare for Dummies)

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