When working with your patients in a medical practice, it is important to understand what their insurance coverage is and how it works. This is especially true for Medicare patients.

Currently, 44 million Americans are enrolled in the Medicare program and enrollment is expected to rise to 79 million within 15 years. While only about 10% of beneficiaries rely solely on the Medicare program for health care coverage, it is important to understand what benefits are available for your patients, should they require coverage.

For patients using Medicare, there is a great deal of confusion between Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D of Medicare Coverage. This article will cover what is covered by Part C of Medicare.

What is covered by Part C of Medicare? What is covered by Medicare Advantage?

Alongside Part A and Part B hospital cover, Medicare also offers a range of health plans that mainly provide managed care through health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or preferred provider organizations (PPOs).

These plans go by different names, such as Medicare Part C, Medicare Advantage, and MA Plans. All names refer to the same thing.

They are run by private insurance companies, which decide each year whether to stay in the program. Medicare pays each insurance plan a fixed fee for everyone who joins that plan, regardless of how much or little health care a person actually uses.

Medicare Advantage plans must by law cover exactly the same services under Part A and Part B as traditional Medicare does.

In addition to this, the plans may also offer extra benefits that traditional Medicare doesn’t cover — such as routine vision, hearing, and dental care. Most plans also include Part D prescription drug coverage as part of their benefits package.

Being enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan is a very different experience from using the traditional Medicare program. Your out-of-pocket costs are different, and so are your choices of doctors and other providers.

You can learn more about these plans at the Medicare Advantage website, where they list current available plans, and the benefits of each.