Welcome To
Northlake Texas Medicare Insurance
Ashford Insurance
Medicare Insurance Made Easy
Northlake Texas Medicare Insurance
What is Medicare?
Medicare is a federal health insurance program. You can get Medicare if you’re age 65 and older. You can also get Medicare at age 18 or older if you’re disabled or have end-stage renal disease. The Medicare program offers basic coverage to help pay for things like doctor visits, hospital stays, and surgeries.
What are the parts of Medicare?
Medicare is broken into four parts.
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
- Medicare Part C
- Medicare Part D
What does Medicare cover?
The parts of Medicare cover different services:
Medicare Part A
Part A (hospital coverage) covers things like inpatient hospital stays, some home health care, and skilled nursing facility care. Together, Medicare Parts A and B are called “Original Medicare.”
Medicare Part B
Part B (medical coverage) covers things like doctor visits, outpatient services, X-rays and lab tests, and preventive screenings.
Medicare Part C
Part C is also known as Medicare Advantage. Private health insurance companies offer these plans. When you join a Medicare Advantage plan, you still have Medicare. The difference is the plan covers and pays for your services instead of the Original Medicare. These plans must provide the same coverage as Original Medicare (so you’re not missing anything). They can also offer extra benefits.
Medicare Part D
Part D covers prescription drugs. Only private health plans offer it. You can get a separate Part D plan or sometimes it’s included in a Medicare Advantage plan.
Are You Eligible for Medicare?
Generally, you are eligible for Medicare if you or your spouse worked for at least 10 years in Medicare-covered employment, and you are 65 years old and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
If you are not 65, you might also qualify for coverage if you have a disability or with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplant).
Here are some simple guidelines. You can get Part A at age 65 without having to pay premiums if:
- You already get retirement benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board.
- You are eligible to get Social Security or Railroad benefits but have not yet filed for them.
- You or your spouse had Medicare-covered government employment.
If you are under 65, you can get Part A without having to pay premiums if:
- You have received Social Security or Railroad Retirement
- Board disability benefit for 24 months. You are a kidney dialysis or kidney transplant patient.
While you don’t have to pay a premium for Part A if you meet one of those conditions, you must pay for Part B if you want it. It is deducted from your Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or Civil Service Retirement check. If you don’t get any of the above payments, Medicare sends you a bill for your Part B premium every 3 months.