Medicare.
With you in mind.

Medicare is federal health insurance, mainly for people 65 and older. Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pays its share of approved costs, and you pay the rest through deductibles and coinsurance. There’s no yearly cap on what you can spend with Original Medicare alone, so many people add a Medicare Supplement plan or choose a Medicare Advantage plan instead. Prescription drugs come through a separate Part D plan or are built into some Advantage plans. If you or your spouse still has employer coverage, the order of who pays first can change, and we’ll sort that out with you.

Part A covers inpatient hospital stays, skilled nursing facility care after a qualifying hospital stay, hospice and some home health care. Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, preventive services, lab tests and medical equipment. What it doesn’t cover: most routine dental care, eye exams and glasses, hearing aids and long-term custodial care. Original Medicare also doesn’t pay for most prescriptions you fill at the pharmacy, which is where Part D comes in. Outside the U.S. it generally doesn’t cover care, and travel insurance can fill that gap.

Part A is hospital insurance. Part B is medical insurance for doctors and outpatient care. Part C is Medicare Advantage, an alternative way to get Parts A and B through a private insurer, often with extras like dental or vision. Part D covers prescription drugs and is sold by private insurers. A Medicare Supplement plan (Medigap) is separate from all four. It works alongside Original Medicare to cover some of the costs Medicare leaves behind.

Medicare eligibility starts at 65 for most people, as long as you’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who has lived in the country for at least five years. You can sign up during your Initial Enrollment Period, which begins three months before the month you turn 65 and ends three months after. If you miss it, there’s a General Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31 each year, but you may pay a late penalty. If you keep working and have employer coverage, you might qualify for a Special Enrollment Period later.

Original Medicare generally doesn’t cover routine dental care, eye exams for glasses, glasses themselves, or hearing aids and hearing exams. There are limited exceptions, such as dental work that’s part of a covered hospital procedure. Many Medicare Advantage plans do include some dental, vision and hearing benefits, and standalone dental and vision plans are another route. Benefits and limits differ a lot from plan to plan, so check what’s actually included before you choose.

Mostly no. Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term custodial care, which is help with bathing, dressing, eating and other daily activities, whether at home or in a nursing home. It does cover short stays in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay, for up to 100 days per benefit period, though you pay coinsurance from day 21. Long-term care insurance, personal savings or, for people who qualify, Medicaid are the usual ways to plan for that cost.

Most people pay nothing for Part A because they or a spouse paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years. Part B has a standard premium of $202.90 a month in 2026, plus a $283 yearly deductible, and then you usually pay 20% of approved costs. Higher earners pay more for Part B. Part D, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement premiums depend on the plan, your location and sometimes your age. These figures reset each January, so we’ll confirm the current amounts when we talk.

Original Medicare is run by the federal government and lets you see any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare, anywhere in the country. Medicare Advantage replaces it with a plan from a private insurer, which usually has a network, a yearly out-of-pocket limit and extra benefits like dental or vision. A Medicare Supplement plan does something different: it stays with Original Medicare and pays some of the costs Medicare leaves behind, without replacing Parts A and B.