Think of Medicare Part A as your "hospital" insurance. Medicare Part A covers the following:

• ln-patient Hospital room and board
• Skilled nursing facility care
• Hospice care
• LIMITED home health care

PART A

For most people, there is no monthly premium for Medicare Part A, This is where all of the Medicare taxes that you or your spouse paid during your working years come into play.

lf you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years or 40 quarters, you will most likely receive Medicare Part A without being required to pay a monthly premium. lf you do not qualify for premium free Part A, you may be eligible to purchase Part A. The amount will vary, with the current monthly maximum premium being $458.OO. lf you paid Medicare taxes for less than 30 quarters, you will pay $458.OO monthly. lf you worked for 30-39 quarters, you will pay $252.00 monthly. If you(or your spouse) worked 40 quarters and beyond, you should receive Medicare Part A premium free.

Part A Deductibles and co-insurance

The 2020 Medicare part A deductible is $1408.00 per benefit period. lt is possible to pay more than one Part a deductible amount in the same calendar year. A benefit period is designated as the first day you are admitted to the hospital or skilled nursing facility and ends when you have been out of the inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility for 60 consecutive days in a row. lf you are admitted again after the 50th day, you will have a new $1408.00 deductible and a new benefit period under which care is received.

You will also have co-insurance amounts due with each benefit period. The co-insurance amounts are as follows:

DAYS 1-60
$0 COINSURANCE FOR EACH BENEFIT PERIOD

DAYS 61-90
S352.OO COINSURANCE PER DAY OF EACH BENEFIT PERIOD

DAYS 90 AND BEYOND
$704,00 COINSURANCE PER EACH "LIFETIME RESERVE DAY" AFTER DAY 90 FOR EACH BENEFIT PERIOD (up To 60 DAYS OVER YOUR LTFETIME)

BEYOND LIFETIME RESERVE DAYS

ALL COSTS

lndividuals that purchase a separate Medigap plan or Medicare supplement plan greatly limit their exposure to all of the above costs as the Medicare supplement is designed to cover these costs, depending on which plan an individual chooses to purchase. Medicare Advantage plans are also designed to limit the cost associated with a hospitalization, though with most plans you will pay some type of copay for the first several days of being admitted to a hospital. These copays vary widely from plan to plan and will be discussed in more detail later.