1. Medicare Has Several Parts

Medicare is a federal government health insurance program that provides medical (doctor and hospital) care and prescription drug benefits. You can get your medical (doctor and hospital) benefits EITHER through a fee-for-service system (sometimes called Original Medicare), in which you and Medicare pay independently for each service you receive, OR through a health plan that generally combines all your Medicare benefits into one plan provided through a private insurance company. The Medicare drug benefit is available only through private plans. These Medicare drug plans may be combined with Original Medicare or with a Medicare health plan.

Medicare Part A
Provides coverage for services such as HOSPITAL, skilled nursing facility, and hospice services, including inpatient prescription drugs.

Medicare Part B
Provides coverage for DOCTOR and other related services.

Medicare Part C (Medicare Health Plans)
Medicare Part C combines your HOSPITAL and DOCTOR (Medicare Parts A & B) coverage into one private insurance plan. Instead of getting your Parts A & B benefits directly from Medicare, you can choose to get your Medicare benefits from a private insurance company, known as a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan. In some areas, you also have the option of choosing a Medicare Cost Plan.

It also allows you to choose to get your Medicare benefits from a:

	Medicare Advantage Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
	Medicare Advantage Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
	Medicare Advantage Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) Plan
	Medicare Cost Plan (a type of HMO)
	Medicare Advantage Medical Savings Account (MSA)