Allie Introduces Medicare Part A
Welcome back to another episode of Dynamic Duo with me Allie Shipman and John Shinn from Empower Brokerage! Today, we’re going to dive a little deeper into original Medicare. There’s Medicare Part A and Part B. Right now, we’re going to start with Part A. For Original Medicare Part A, there is a per occurrence deductible of $1,316. Part A generally covers hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, nursing home care, hospice, and home health services. Your first 60 days in the hospital are covered besides the deductible. So, let’s talk a little bit more about the specifics of what is covered.
You have different kinds of hospitals you can go to, including acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Also, skilled nursing facilities care, meals, skilled nursing care, medications, medical social services, medical supplies and equipment are covered. Under hospice care, depending on your terminal illness and related conditions, the plan your hospice team creates can include any or all of these services: doctor services, nursing care, medical equipment, medical supplies, prescription drugs, hospice physical and occupational therapy, social work services and more. In general, that’s what Part A Medicare covers.
John Explains Important Facts
Here’s the main thing I’d like people to know about Part A: it is a lot simpler than people tend to make it. Part A covers the hospital inpatient, skilled nursing facility, and hospice care. The main thing to know is Medicare is pretty simple. Medicare does a terrific job. The first 60 days you’re in the hospital Medicare will pay a hundred percent of what they approve and consider eligible, which is just about everything.
They will pay everything but the deductible, which is a per occurrence. You can pay that deductible more than one time. It pays per benefit period, which is about 60 days in the hospital. The Part B deductible, which we will talk about in our next video, is actually an annual deductible. The Part A deductible is a little different.
So, the first 60 days you’re in the hospital Medicare pretty much takes care of your own bill, except for that $1316 deductible we discussed. On the next video, we’ll talk about Part B, which works differently than the Part A. It is all much easier than it sounds, especially if you have professionals that do this every day. I hope that helps.
