What is Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage)?

What is Medicare Part C Coverage?

If you have heard the term Medicare Part C, it might have confused you. This is what most people refer to as the Medicare Advantage plans. These are separate insurance plans that are sold through private health insurers.

You can buy them much like you would any traditional form of health insurance once you are enrolled in Medicare Part A and B. These plans take care of all of your Medicare Part and B coverage. They also offer vision, dental and hearing plans. Some of them will also take care of your prescription drug coverage.

These plans must be paid for separately. They require that you continue to pay your Medicare Part B premiums. However, they are useful in providing subscribers with a predictable monthly payment rather than unexpected increases for the 20 percent of services that Medicare coverage will not take care of.

Medicare only covers 80 percent of your medical expenses. When you stop to think about it, the remaining 20 percent can be quite high depending on the types of medical help or services you need. Buying a Medicare Advantage plan is a great way to avoid having to go through the financial challenges that you otherwise might go through if you donít get this type of coverage.

With most plans, they work just like traditional HMOs or PPOs. You will need to work with in-network doctors and specialists to get the care covered by the insurer. Take your time comparing the various plans available from insurance companies. The price you pay for both A and B along with the Advantage plan will vary depending on the types of services you get with your coverage.

Different plans charge different out-of-pocket costs. They also have different rules for getting referrals or whether you must stay within your network to see specialists or use specific facilities. There are a variety of plans including those for individuals with special needs, so it is really important to shop around.

You might want to get the help of a qualified insurance agent in your area to help provide you with your plan options. Let them know what your budget is and what types of care you require most. This will help them find the most suitable plan for you.

A Part C plan includes Medical Savings Accounts and skilled nursing facility care. It also takes care of the deductibles for Part A and B. Plus, when you travel abroad, you can get any emergency help that you need under your Advantage plan.

The only limits to getting a Part C plan are not having Original Medicare or living outside the area served by the plan that you are considering. You cannot get this coverage if you have end-stage renal disease, but there are sometimes exceptions to this.  You can select and sign up for a Medicare Part C Advantage plan once a year during the Annual Enrollment period from October 15th to December 7th, 2016. This is how you elect a plan for 2017.

In order to understand all of your options, you should also consider reading about Part D.