Medicare Part A
Medicare Part A
Medicare Part A is a tremendously helpful policy for anyone needing to stay in an inpatient facility. Part A takes care of nearly every cost. Here, we will look deeper into Medicare Part A, including the enrollment process and how the coverage works.
Interested in learning more?
What it is
When you’re staying overnight in a hospital, or you’re residing in a hospice or skilled nursing facility, Medicare Part A is going to be the Medicare plan responsible for handling those costs.
Anything that qualifies as inpatient treatment gets covered. How much you pay for these treatments, on the other hand, relies on how long you have been getting inpatient care.
How to get it
Joining Medicare Part A happens in one of two ways – you get it automatically, or, you sign up for it during an enrollment period.
Automatic enrollment is exclusive to those who are receiving Social Security, Railroad Retirement Board, or disability benefits. If you are getting Social Security, then you will receive a Medicare card in the mail that will become effective the first day of the month you turn 65.
If you are receiving disability benefits, then you’re automatically enrolled after receiving those benefits for 24 months.
For the rest, you must join during an enrollment period. Ideally, you join during the Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) which includes the month you turn 65, the three months before, and the three months after. A General Enrollment Period lasts from January 1 to March 31, leaves you subject to late fees, and becomes effective on July 1.
Costs
Medicare Part A is unique in that you may be able to get it premium-free, provided you joined during the IEP. If not, your monthly premium may be $259 or as much as $471.
The deductible is $1484 per benefit period. A benefit period assigns out-of-pocket costs based on the number of days you were hospitalized.
The coinsurance is $0 for the first 60 days, $371 each day from days 61-90, and $742 daily per lifetime reserve day. You only get 60 lifetime reserve days, and there’s no way to replenish them. After those 60 are used up, you pay everything out-of-pocket.
Payment structure is different for other facilities. Hospice, for example, doesn’t have any out-of-pocket expenses other than a $5 copay for prescription drugs.
You will face late enrollment penalties if you miss the IEP. Every year you wait after being first eligible, you double the amount of time you’ll spend paying late enrollment costs. The late enrollment penalty is 10%. If you wait three years to join, you will pay the premium plus the extra 10% for six years.
Get Medicare Part A
At Medicare With Jake, we’re an insurance agency from Wichita, Kansas that aims to give you all things Medicare, including Medicare Part A. We make this easy to obtain because we make it easy to understand. We make it so that you won’t have to feel worried about what you will have to pay while you’re recovering in the hospital. We’ve got it from here.
