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Effective: December 1, 2006 |
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04.40.05ar1 - Medicare Part A (Archive) |
Archived: January 1, 2007 |
Medicare Part A is hospital insurance. There are premium, deductible and coinsurance costs associated with this coverage.
For more information on Medicare Part A, see the Medicare website a www.medicare.gov.
Medicare Part A helps cover:
l Inpatient care in hospitals, including:
n Critical access hospitals,
n Skilled nursing facilities,
Note: This does not include custodial or long-term care.
n Certain medications while hospitalized.
l Some hospice care and some home health care.
Note: Beneficiaries must meet certain conditions to get these benefits.
Most people do not pay a premium for Part A because they or a spouse already paid for it through their payroll taxes while working and have 40 or more work credits under SSA or the Railroad Retirement Board.
The following people are eligible for Medicare Part A at no cost:
l People receiving RSDI or Railroad Retirement benefits who are either:
l Age 65 or older.
l Receiving these benefits based on a disability lasting for more than 24 months.
l People age 65 or older who had Medicare-covered government employment.
l People receiving continuous dialysis due to permanent kidney failure or who have had kidney transplants.
For those people who must pay a Part A premium, they can enroll in Part A if certain criteria are met, however they must also enroll in Part B.
l The 2006 Part A premium is $216.00 for people having 30-39 credits of Medicare-covered employment.
l The 2006 Part A premium is $393.00 per month for people who are not otherwise eligible for premium-free hospital insurance and have less than 30 credits of Medicare-covered employment.
A person must pay a deductible for hospital stays that are 60 days or less.
The Part A deductible for 2006 is $952.
The Part A co-insurance amount varies based on how many days the person has been hospitalized and what type of facility the person is in.
For more information on co-insurance payments go to the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov.