mEDICARE oRIGINAL

Part A is hospital insurance including: 

• Inpatient care you receive in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities
• Hospice care 
• Some home health services
• Most people don't have to pay a premium for Part A.

Part B is medical insurance including: 

• Doctor visits
• Preventive health services 
• Outpatient lab tests 
• Outpatient surgeries, where you don't stay overnight in a hospital
• Ambulance
• Some durable medical equipment
• Paying a monthly premium for Part B may be required.

Parts A and B do not cover routine prescription drugs, vision, dental, or hearing services, long-term hospital stays, or routine physical exams. It is advised to get a long-term insurance plan to cover long-term or routine services. 

As of 2024, Part A requires you to pay a deductible: $1632 for the first 60 days in hospital. After 60 days, $408 is charged for each day. An additional Medical Supplement plan can help cover Part A and no deductibles will be required. 

Part B of Medicare Original covers 80% of medical expenses. To cover the remaining 20%, you can either pay yourself as coinsurance or get an additional Medicare Supplement plan to pay a monthly premium. Find out more about Medicare Supplement here.

With Medicare Original, you have the benefit of going to any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare within the entire United States. 

You have to buy a separate Part D plan along with your Medicare Original plan to get prescription drug coverage. 

Medicare Original does not include a limit on how much you pay out of pocket each year. 

Medicare Original is provided by the federal government, while Medicare Advantage plans are provided by private health insurance companies

Only having a Medicare Original plan requires you to pay a deductible and coinsurance, while a Medicare Advantage plan allows you to pay copay. 

Medical Original allows you to go to any doctor who accepts Medicare, while Medicare Advantage is limited to a network of doctors and hospitals depending on what private health insurance you select. 

Medicare Original requires buying a separate Part D plan to get prescription drug coverage, while Medicare Advantage can include prescription drug coverage and a separate Part D plan is not necessary. 

Medicare Original may not have a limit on out-of-pocket costs, while Medicare Advantage does have a limit on annual out-of-pocket costs.