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Mastering Medicare, with all its parts and choices, may seem like a daunting challenge, especially when you or your loved one first enter the system. This expert advice, from the American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging, will guide you through the Medicare system and will help you make the smartest choices for your particular situation.
Medicare helps cover healthcare costs, but it doesn't cover all your medical expenses or the costs of most long-term care. The advice in the "Making Sense - and Making the Most - of Medicare Tips" from the American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging, will help you learn the basics of Medicare so you can navigate the program-and determine what supplemental help, if any, you or your loved one might need.
"A key part of growing older today and ensuring the health of loved ones often means knowing how best to access what is available within programs in the US health care system," says Cheryl Phillips, MD, AGSF. "Medicare is one of our complicated systems that impacts health in later life; having a grasp on the program and its cost and care benefits is essential to most older adults and their families."
The FHA tip sheet provides a Medicare 101 guide which outlines Medicare parts A, B, C, and D. It explains how to enroll in Medicare if you or your loved one's Social Security benefits didn't start at age 65. And it details prescription drug coverage, potential penalties, and why it's important to re-evaluate your coverage every year. The tip sheet also provides information on Medigap, a Medicare supplement, and how to get the financial help you and your family might need.
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