Medicare Part B
What Is Medicare Part B
Medicare Part B is the medical insurance component of your health care coverage. It will help pay for medically necessary services, preventive services, and medical equipment. Your Part B benefits will also cover things like participation in clinical research studies, transportation in an ambulance, durable medical equipment, limited outpatient prescription drugs, and mental health care.
Here are some things to know about each service covered by Part B Medicare coverage:
Clinical Research
If your doctor recommends that you participate in an approved clinical research study and receive a trial procedure, Medicare Part B benefits may help cover the costs of that treatment. For example, if you are diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, your doctor may recommend you for a trial that involves testing a new drug to determine its efficacy and safety. If you choose to participate in such a study, the medical staff will study how well the new treatment works for you and may compare several different treatments to see which is most effective.
Ambulance Services
If you need to be transported by ground ambulance transportation to a hospital, critical access hospital, or skilled nursing facility in an instance where any other form of transportation may endanger your health, Medicare will pay for ambulance services. In some instances, Medicare may also pay for limited use of ambulance services for nonemergency transportation if you have a written recommendation from your doctor that dictates ambulance transportation is medically required.
Durable Medical Equipment
Some conditions require access to specialized equipment to treat or cope with symptoms. Medicare will pay for a variety of different durable medical devices but check with your preferred supplier to ensure that Medicare will be accepted. In some cases, you may need to rent the equipment, while in others you may need to purchase it outright. Sometimes, it is possible to choose whether you wish to buy or rent durable medical equipment.
Medicare Part B Costs
Medicare Part B is not available premium-free, like Part A. If you want to acquire Part B Medicare benefits, you must pay a monthly premium and other costs that are associated with medically necessary services. Some other costs you will incur are deductibles and coinsurance. Some of these costs can be partially mitigated through the purchase of a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy. Inquire with a Medicare professional to learn more about Medicare Supplement Insurance.