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IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting a handle on the coverage you get under Medicare Part A and Part B

Figuring out what Medicare Part D covers

Being aware of what Medicare doesn’t cover

Recognizing that some coverage comes with limits

Medicare is huge — a program of Titanic proportions. It covers so many medical services that just to list them all would fill this entire book. And describing each service or item in detail — in terms of the coverage requirements or limitations that apply in different circumstances — would take several books. So I need to use a big brush here.

In this chapter, I broadly paint in the categories of care that Medicare pays for under Part A, Part B, and Part D so that you get a good idea of its scope. (The Medicare Advantage program, also known as Part C, gets its own explanation in Chapters 1, 9, and 11.) I also explain some types of care that you may expect to be covered by Medicare but that actually aren’t. And finally, I show that a few services come with limitations on coverage, meaning that Medicare helps pay for them only up to a certain point in a particular period of time.

I’m not skimping on giving more-detailed information that you need to know in order to deal with certain aspects of Medicare. Some coverage issues are very straightforward — basically, you just show your Medicare card (or Medicare Advantage plan card or Part D drug plan card, as appropriate) to get a covered service for the required co-pay or, in some cases, for free. But other issues are more complex and may pose pitfalls that can trip you up if you’re not expecting them. I zoom in on those issues in Chapter 14, where I share the inside scoop on some of the finer points of Medicare coverage that are good to know about in advance so you don’t have to find out the hard way.