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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Medicare

Medicare is a health insurance program for eligible people age 65 or older. Health insurance is also available for people under 65 who have a disability. For eligibility questions please contact Medicare directly at (800) MEDICARE (633-4227), or visit the Medicare Web site.

Medicare is broken up into three sections: Parts A, B, and D. Below is a breakdown of each section, including potential costs and how it may affect you.

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Medicare Part A

Medicare Part A is your hospital care which helps pay for inpatient care, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, hospice care, and some home health care.

Medicare Part B

Medicare Part B is your medical insurance which helps pay for doctors' services, outpatient care, and other medical services that Part A doesn't pay for.

TRICARE Pharmacy and Medicare Part D

Medicare Part D is your recently introduced prescription drug coverage.

Beware of Aggressive Sales Tactics for Medicare Advantage Plans

Some Medicare Advantage plan salespeople have been caught using hard-sell tactics to pressure seniors into signing up for policies that may leave them worse off than they would be with traditional Medicare coverage.