Medicare(less)?

There was a time in my life, many moons ago, when I scoffed at the idea of ever growing old.  I mean, seriously, I was never going to get out of my 20's.  I remember laughing at my parents when they were excited about getting the Senior Citizen discount for their coffee at McDonald's.  Now that I am several a few years removed from my 20's, I find myself preparing for Senior Citizen discounts, AARP, Life Alert and bingo. 

I'm not sure what is more painful about the word "Medicare", is it the fact that you are finally reaching the age when you are now considered "Medicare Eligible" or, is it just trying to navigate your way through the challenging world of the Medicare system?  Frankly, I find both reasons frightening and want to make me hide under the bed.

There are several parts to Medicare.  The most common and talked about are Part A and Part B.  What are these parts and what do they do for you?

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) helps cover:

• Inpatient care in hospitals
• Skilled nursing facility care
• Hospice care
• Home health care

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) helps cover:

• Services from doctors and other health care providers
• Outpatient care
• Home health care
• Durable medical equipment
• Some preventive services

While there is Medicare Part C and Part D (prescription), we won't go into details.   My head is already spinning and I have just begun this post!

So, the most important part of this post I want to cover is when should you enroll in Medicare Part A and B.  If you or your spouse are still working for the Texas A&M University System and you have health coverage through the System you may delay enrollment in Part B.  Generally, Medicare Part A is free and won't hurt you to enroll; however, Part B comes with a premium and delaying enrollment can save you some money.

While you or your spouse are still actively employed and enrolled in the A&M Care Plan, you can delay enrollment into Medicare Part B because the A&M Care Plan will remain PRIMARY.  When you enroll in Medicare Part B you will be charged a monthly premium...because the A&M Care Plan is primary there really isn't a benefit to paying the monthly premium to Medicare.

Once the policy holder of the A&M Care Plan retires and is no longer working than you must enroll in Medicare Part A and B.  At this point, once the policy holder retires, the A&M Care plan will move to secondary payer and Medicare A and B become primary. 

So to sum up all of this confusion ( or add to it!):

 

 

Until next time...keep on keepin' on!