Deductibles and Co-Pays
Medicare Part A provides coverage for hospital stays while Part B covers doctors’ services and outpatient care. However, deductibles and co-payments are left in your responsibility. For Part A, patients had to pay deductibles amounting to $1,340 before coverage took in, as well as a portion of the cost of long hospital stays, namely $335 per day for days 61-90 in the hospital and $670 per day after that.
One thing you should keep in mind: Medicare will only cover 60 days beyond the 90-day limit, called “lifetime reserve days,” after that, you’ll have to pay the full hospital cost.
Part B usually offers coverage for 80% of doctors’ services, lab tests and x-rays, but you’ll still need to pay 20% of the costs after a $185 deductible in 2018. A medigap policy, sold by private insurers, or Medicare Advantage plan can fill in the blanks if you don’t have the additional coverage from a retiree health insurance policy.
