Medicareis a Health Insurance
Program for people 65 years of age and older..., it's the nation's
largest health insurance program and covers nearly 40 million
Americans.
Part A (Hospital Insurance)
Helps pay for care in hospitals as an inpatient,... skilled nursing
facilities, hospice care, and some home health care, but not Long Term Care.
Most people get Part A automatically when they turn age 65 at no
charge, since they or a spouse paid Medicare taxes while they were
working. Click
here for Pamphlet
on Medicare Benefits. For even more detail click on Your Medicare CoverageMedicare
& YouYou need to sign up close to
your 65th birthday, even if you will not be retired by that time. (If
you are getting Social Security benefits when you turn 65, your Medicare
Hospital Benefits - Part A - start automatically.)
Part B (Medical Insurance) Helps Pay For Doctors' services, outpatient
hospital care, and some other medical services that Part A does not
cover, such as the services of physical and occupational therapists, and
some home health care, but not Long Term Care. Part B helps pay for these
covered services and supplies when they are medically
necessary. Click
here for more information The premium is $88.50 per month in 2006You
can sign up by contacting your local
Social Security office
Travel (health care needed when
traveling outside the United States)
Medicare generally doesn’t cover health
care while you are traveling outside the U.S. (the "U.S." includes the
50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa). There are some
exceptions including some cases where Medicare may pay for services that
you get while on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining
the land areas of the U.S. In rare cases, Medicare may pay for inpatient
hospital, doctor, or ambulance services you get in a foreign country in
the following situations:
1) If an emergency arose within the
U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital
that can treat your medical condition
2) If you are traveling through
Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between
Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs and the
Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can
treat the emergency
3) If you live in the U.S. and the
foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital
that can treat your medical condition, regardless of whether an
emergency exists
You pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, and the Part B
deductible
applies.
Medicare Physician Fee
Schedule Resource-Based Relative Value Scale
(RBRVS) The Medicare RBRVS physician fee schedule replaced the
Medicare physician payment system of "customary, prevailing, and
reasonable"
Answer
You will not have to pay for Medicare Part A if you (or your
spouse) worked
and paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years. If you (or your spouse)
did not
pay Medicare taxes while you worked and you are age 65 or older, you may
be able
to buy Part A. Call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213
for
more information about buying Medicare Part A.
http://questions.medicare.gov/Medicare
& You
2010
The following is a listing of the Medicare premium,
deductible, and coinsurance rates that will be in effect in 2009:
Medicare Premiums for 2009:
Part A: (Hospital Insurance) Premium
Most people do not pay a monthly Part A premium
because they or a spouse
has 40 or more quarters of Medicare-covered employment.
The Part A premium is $244.00 per month for
people having 30-39 quarters
of Medicare-covered employment.
The Part A premium is $443.00 per month for
people who are not otherwise
eligible for premium-free hospital insurance and have less than 30
quarters
of Medicare-covered employment.
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