What do the different parts of Medicare cover?

While Medicare is a single health insurance program, it’s made up of many parts. To get the most out of your Medicare coverage, you need to understand the relationship among these parts. 

When it comes to selecting the best Medicare plan, you have many options. You may combine some parts, while others are designed to stand alone. 

Learn more about how to combine different parts of Medicare

The chart below explores the benefits you get with the most popular combinations of Medicare coverage available. Each column represents a unique grouping of Medicare options. And each row represents a benefit or perk that comes with a particular type of coverage. 

Let’s get to know what you get from the different combinations. That’s the first step in choosing the Medicare coverage that’s right for you.

Learn more about each part of Medicare

*Medicare Parts A and B do not include prescription drug coverage, which is provided through Medicare Part D. You are not required to enroll in Medicare Part D. However, if you do not have prescription drug coverage through another plan and choose not to enroll in Part D when you first become eligible, you could end up paying a penalty for late enrollment if you decide to enroll in Part D later.  

Learn more about potential penalties

A quick guide to Medicare coverage combinations on the chart 

Parts A and B: Also called Original Medicare, Part A covers services for hospital stays and similar inpatient procedures. And Part B includes coverage for doctor visits and other procedures that don’t require an overnight stay in the hospital. 

Part C: Also called Medicare Advantage, Part C is made up of plans approved by Medicare. Private insurance companies offer these plans. Medicare Advantage plans usually include a network of health care providers. Some require you to use their network of providers while others allow you to go out of network, usually for a higher cost. 

Part D: This part of Medicare provides prescription drug coverage. 

Medicare Supplement plan: Private insurance companies provide these supplement plans that work with Original Medicare. These plans help cover some of the costs associated with it. 

A quick guide to Medicare benefits on the chart 

• Hospital coverage: Benefits for hospital stays and inpatient procedures. 
• Visits to doctors and other health care professionals: Coverage for seeing a health care professional as an outpatient. 
• Preventive care coverage: Benefits like annual physical exams, certain vaccines and some health screenings. 
• Prescription drug coverage: Benefits for prescription medication. 
• Coverage while traveling abroad: Benefits for medical care received outside the United States. 
• Dental coverage: Benefits for routine care for your teeth. 
• Vision coverage: Benefits for routine care for your eyesight. 
• Hearing coverage: Benefits for routine care for your hearing. 
• Fitness membership benefits: Benefits for gym or fitness club memberships. 
• Out-of-pocket maximum protection: A benefit that protects you from paying more than a certain amount for your covered medical care each year.