Medicare Terms & Definitions – Learn The Lingo!
The Language For Medicare Can Certainly Be Confusing. Down Below Are All The Definitions You Need To Make Sense Of It All.
Terms – Click To See Definitions
An agreement by your doctor, provider, or supplier to be paid directly by Medicare, to accept the payment amount Medicare approves for the service, and not to bill you for any more than the Medicare deductible and coinsurance.
The way that Original Medicare measures your use of hospital and skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. A benefit period begins the day you’re admitted as an inpatient in a hospital or Skilled Nursing Facility. The benefit period ends when you haven’t gotten any inpatient hospital care (or skilled care in a Skilled Nursing Facility) for 60 days in a row. If you go into a hospital or a Skilled Nursing Facility after one benefit period has ended, a new benefit period begins. You must pay the inpatient hospital deductible for each benefit period. There’s no limit to the number of benefit periods.
An amount you may be required to pay as your share of the cost for services after you pay any deductibles. Coinsurance is usually a percentage (for example, 20%).
An amount you may be required to pay as your share of the cost for a medical service or supply, like a doctor’s visit, hospital outpatient visit, or prescription drug. A co-payment is usually a set amount, rather than a percentage. For example, you might pay $10 or $20 for a doctor’s visit or prescription drug.
Prescription drug coverage (for example, from an employer or union) that’s expected to pay, on average, at least as much as Medicare’s standard prescription drug coverage. People who have this kind of coverage when they become eligible for Medicare can generally keep that coverage without paying a penalty, if they decide to enroll in Medicare prescription drug coverage later. Critical access hospital A small facility that provides outpatient services, as well as inpatient services on a limited basis, to people in rural areas.
Non-skilled personal care, like help with activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, eating, getting in or out of a bed or chair, moving around, and using the bathroom. It may also include the kind of health-related care that most people do themselves, like using eye drops. In most cases, Medicare doesn’t pay for custodial care.
The amount you must pay for health care or prescriptions before Original Medicare, your prescription drug plan, or your other insurance begins to pay.
Special projects, sometimes called “pilot programs” or “research studies,” that test improvement in Medicare coverage, payment, and quality of care. They usually operate only for a limited time, for a specific group of people, and/or in specific areas.
A Medicare program to help people with limited income and resources pay Medicare prescription drug program costs, like premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance.
A list of prescription drugs covered by a prescription drug plan or another insurance plan offering prescription drug benefits. Also called a drug list.
A hospital, or part of a hospital, that provides an intensive rehabilitation program to inpatients.
For the purposes of this publication, an institution is a facility that provides short-term or long-term care, like a nursing home, skilled nursing facility (SNF), or rehabilitation hospital. Private residences, like an assisted living facility or group home, aren’t considered institutions for this purpose.
In Original Medicare, these are additional days that Medicare will pay for when you’re in a hospital for more than 90 days. You have a total of 60 reserve days that can be used during your lifetime. For each lifetime reserve day, Medicare pays all covered costs except for a daily coinsurance.
Acute care hospitals that provide treatment for patients who stay, on average, more than 25 days. Most patients are transferred from an intensive or critical care unit. Services provided include comprehensive rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, head trauma treatment, and pain management.
Health care services or supplies are needed to diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition, disease, or its symptoms that meet accepted standards of medicine.
A type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare. Medicare Advantage Plans provide all of your Part A and Part B benefits. Medicare Advantage Plans include:
• Health Maintenance Organizations
• Preferred Provider Organization
• Private Fee-for-Service Plan
• Special Needs Plans
• Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans
If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan:
• Most Medicare services are covered through the plan
• Medicare services aren’t paid for by Original Medicare Most Medicare Advantage Plans offer prescription drug coverage.
In Original Medicare, this is the amount a doctor or supplier that accepts assignment can be paid. It may be less than the actual amount a doctor or supplier charges. Medicare pays part of this amount and you’re responsible for the difference.
Generally, a plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide Part A and Part B benefits to people with Medicare who enroll in the plan. Medicare health plans include all Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicare Cost Plans, and Demonstration/Pilot Programs. Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations are special types of Medicare health plans. PACE plans can be offered by public or private companies and provide Part D and other benefits in addition to Part A and Part B benefits.
Any way other than Original Medicare that you can get your Medicare health or prescription drug coverage. This term includes all Medicare health plans and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans.
The periodic payment to Medicare, an insurance company, or a health care plan for health or prescription drug coverage.
Health care to prevent illness or detect illness at an early stage, when treatment is likely to work best (for example, preventive services include Pap tests, flu shots, and screening mammograms).
The doctor you see first for most health problems. He or she makes sure you get the care you need to keep you healthy. He or she also may talk with other doctors and health care providers about your care and refer you to them. In many Medicare Advantage Plans, you must see your primary care doctor before you see any other health care provider.
A written order from your primary care doctor for you to see a specialist or get certain medical services. In many Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), you need to get a referral before you can get medical care from anyone except your primary care doctor. If you don’t get a referral first, the plan may not pay for the services.
A geographic area where a health insurance plan accepts members if it limits membership based on where people live. For plans that limit which doctors and hospitals you may use, it’s also generally the area where you can get routine (non-emergency) services. The plan may disenroll you if you move out of the plan’s service area.
care Skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services provided on a daily basis, in a SNF. Examples of SNF care include physical therapy or intravenous injections that can only be given by a registered nurse or doctor.