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Been Thinking About
Medicare Part B?
By
Delia De Mello |
 If
you are covered under Medicare Part A, but originally opted
not to apply for Medicare Part B, now’s your opportunity to
enroll in Part B. The general enrollment period runs through
March 31st. But first, you may be wondering: what are Parts
A and B? And why would someone get one and not the other?
Here are the nuts and bolts. Medicare Part A (hospital
insurance) helps pay for inpatient care in a hospital or
skilled nursing facility following a hospital stay, some
home health care and hospice care.
Medicare Part B (medical insurance) helps pay for doctors’
services and many other medical services and supplies not
covered by hospital insurance. When you first become
eligible to apply for Medicare Part A, you also have the
option of enrolling in Part B for a monthly premium. Some
people decide not to because they do not want to pay the
premium or for other reasons. But you may discover that as
your medical needs change, it is to your advantage to
enroll. That’s where enrollment periods come into play. When
you first become eligible for Part A, you have a seven-month
period (your initial enrollment period) in which to sign up
for Part B. After the initial enrollment period, you can
only sign up during a later year’s general enrollment
period.
Each year, the Medicare general enrollment period runs
January 1 through March 31. Your coverage begins the
following July. But keep in mind that, for most people, the
monthly premium increases 10 percent for each 12-month
period you were eligible for, but did not enroll in,
Medicare Part B. So if you are covered under Medicare Part A
and you’ve been thinking about applying for Part B, now is
the time to act. Learn more about Medicare by reading Social
Security’s publication on the subject at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10043.html. You also can learn a
lot about Medicare by visiting www.socialsecurity.gov and
selecting “Medicare” at the top of the page on the right
side. Or visit Medicare’s website at www.medicare.gov.
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About The Author
Delia M.
De Mello has been with the Social Security Administration
since 1986. She was recently promoted to Metropolitan Public
Affairs Specialist and a member of the Office of
Communication’s Multi Language Review team, which translates
and reviews SSA publications in all spoken languages. For
more information, please call (800) 772-1213 or visit
www.socialsecurity.gov.
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