Patricia Barry - Medicare For Dummies

Medicare For Dummies

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013947508

ISBN 978-1-118-53278-2 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-80515-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-80519-0 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Introduction

F or most people, turning 65 or otherwise becoming eligible for Medicare feels like stepping into alien territory without a map. The signposts you think should be there often arent immediately visible. When you ask for directions, you cant always be sure youre being pointed down the right path.

Medicare For Dummies is the map you need. It gives you accurate, practical information about Medicare in plain language. It shows you how to skirt pitfalls and avoid wrong turns that can cost you dearly. My goal is to help you make informed, confident decisions that take you where you want to be. How can I promise that? Because this book is, in essence, the result of thousands of questions Ive received over the years from people just like you.

I know from many of those questions that people entitled to Medicare often receive incorrect information from sources such as government officials they should be able to trust. Thats why, in these pages, I not only give you info thats firmly based in law but sometimes also identify certain specific regulations (by name, number, and website) that you can use if you need to prove to an official the legal authority for a particular point about eligibility, enrollment, late penalties, and so on. You cant find these useful references, which I offer as a kind of consumer empowerment, in other guides.

Confusion about Medicare is almost inevitable for two main reasons. Its regulations apply to different people in different ways, according to their specific circumstances, so the decisions you need to make may be unlike the next persons. Also, it offers an array of choices that can be bewildering if you dont know how to sift through them to get to the one thats right for you.

So think of your Medicare card as your passport into the terrain of guaranteed health care, where youre welcome regardless of income or preexisting medical conditions, but you still have to find your way around. And consider Medicare For Dummies the road map that helps you navigate the highways and some of the more obscure byways of that system and keeps you on track.

About This Book

Medicare For Dummies gives you a lot to chew on, but dont worry; you can take small bites. What you personally need to read depends on your situation and on whether youre using this book to help yourself or somebody else.

In Medicare For Dummies, you find out what you need to know to get through the Medicare maze and get the most out of your coverage. You find answers to some questions that are barely addressed and sometimes not touched upon at all in official consumer publications about the program. You discover where to turn for additional help, if you need it. And, as in any For Dummies book, you can easily locate and understand the specific information youre looking for because of the reader-friendly organization and straightforward language.

As you may expect from a program run partly by a federal bureaucracy and partly by private insurance plans, youre going to meet some unavoidable jargon in this book. These terms are worth getting to know because notices you get from the government or the plans or any to-and-fros you have with either will be easier to understand. So I use the following conventions:

I explain new terms in Medicare-speak the first time they appear in the text. Theyre also defined in the glossary in .

When you see the word Medicare used on its own, it usually means the whole Medicare program (as in When you join Medicare...). Sometimes it means the federal agency that runs Medicare (as in Medicare may send you a notice...). The agencys official name, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), appears as the source of information in some tables.

I typically refer to the basic Medicare program (Part A plus Part B) as traditional Medicare. I call the private plans that comprise the alternative Part C program Medicare Advantage plans or Medicare health plans.

I use the terms Part D and Medicare drug coverage interchangeably to discuss the Medicare prescription drug program. I refer to the plans that provide this coverage as Part D plans or Medicare drug plans.

Feel free to skip anything marked with the Technical Stuff icon as well as the sidebars those chunks of text that appear in shaded boxes. Theyre not necessary to understanding how to find your way through Medicare. Still, you may find them interesting. Ever wonder how on earth Congress dreamed up some of the more oddball bits of this program? You can find the answers in sidebars scattered throughout this book.