If you’re 65 and on Social Security already, the government signs you up for Medicare automatically. No choice. Part A is inpatient care and it is free to everyone. Part B is outpatient visits and cost about $110 a month, deducted from your SS check every month. Part C is other care and Part D is prescriptions. You can buy supplemental policies that pay what Medicare doesn’t pay for.
In my own case, I refused Part B outpatient care because I am a veteran and get all of my care at the VA hospital. Medicare sent me a new card reflecting Part A only. I reckoned I needed the $110 a month more, than I needed more outpatient care. If you are a veteran eligible for VA care and travel a lot or are away from a VA facility and need emergency or urgent care or even routine outpatient care, you might want to keep Part B just in case you need it. But since I don’t travel, I am doing without it. There is a penalty to sign up for Part B if you don’t take it the initial time you are eligible for it and want it later.
I got tons of offers for supplemental insurance in the mail from various insurance companies that sell them and even had a couple of agents show up at my door to explain it to me. Good luck figuring it all out. It can seem complicated and be confusing until you research it and study it for a while. Remember, nothing the government does is simple.
Thanks. I checked my wife’s stack of Medicare related mail from this year and it looks like she’s been signed up for Medicare already (already drawing SS). Now we need to fill in the details.