What Are the Different Medicare Plans?

Medicare has four different parts:

• Part A: Part A is hospital insurance. It is intended to cover the costs of inpatient care in hospitals and skilled nursing facility care. It also can be used for hospice care and home health care.
• Part B: Medicare Part B is used to pay for the services rendered by doctors and other providers, as well as outpatient care. It may also be used for home health care and preventative services, including shots or vaccines, screenings and annual wellness visits. Qualifying durable medical equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, hospital beds and other items may also be paid for through Part B. With this plan, you can use any provider or hospital in the U.S. that accepts Medicare, so you don’t have to worry about staying in-network.
• Part C: Also known as Medicare Advantage, Part C is different from traditional Medicare plans. Instead of getting insurance through Part A and B, those with Part C use a Medicare-approved plan that is run by a private insurance company. With Part C, enrollees may have lower costs out of pocket, but they will likely need to solely use doctors who are in the network of their company to have expenses covered.
• Part D: Part D is drug coverage. It helps to cover prescription drug costs, including various shots and vaccines. If you have Medicare Parts A and B, sometimes referred to as “Original Medicare,” then you can join Part D with it, or you may enroll by joining a Medicare Advantage Plan or Part C with drug coverage. Those plans that allow you to enroll in Medicare drug coverage follow the rules established by Medicare but are run by private insurance companies.