Medicare Resources

Medicare coverage is divided into parts which allows you to choose how you get your Medicare Coverage. You do not need all the Medicare parts listed below, instead, you will pick one or a few parts to get the coverage that best fits your health needs.

• Medicare Part A is hospital insurance. This covers inpatient hospital visits, skilled nursing facilities, home health, and hospice care.

• Medicare Part B is medical insurance. This covers necessary visits to your health care provider, preventive services, durable medical equipment, laboratory tests, and x-rays.

• Medicare Part C (also called Medicare Advantage) is a different way to get your Medicare benefits otherwise covered by Original Medicare (Parts A and B).

• Medicare Part D provides prescription drug coverage. This covers prescription treatments that you may use to treat your psoriatic disease such as topicals, phototherapy, oral systemic, and biologic treatments.

To learn more about Medicare, including supplemental coverage options, request your free Health Insurance Quick Guide.

You can join, switch, or drop a Medicare health plan or Medicare Advantage plan during 3 periods:

1. Initial Enrollment Period: the 7-month period around your 65th birthday

2. Open Enrollment Period: October 15th – December 7th every year

3. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1st – March 31st every year. You can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or switch to Original Medicare (Parts A & B)

Some people are automatically enrolled in Medicare. Those include people who are receiving Social Security benefits and Railroad Retirements benefits. If you are not automatically enrolled, you will have to sign up. You can sign up at medicare.gov or by contacting Social Security.

When some people switch from commercial health insurance to Medicare, they may notice that the cost of their prescription treatments goes up. Luckily, there are some options that may lower your prescription drug costs, including:

• Requesting a formulary exception. If you are prescribed a treatment that is not on your plan’s formulary, you and your health care provider can make a special request that your insurance plan cover the treatment.

• Requesting a tiering exception. Prescription treatments on a formulary are grouped into tiers (or levels). A tiering exception means that the insurance company would bill your specialty drug at a lower tier (and lower cost).

• Looking for other treatment options. Your provider may be able to help you find another treatment that could be more affordable and still manage your psoriatic disease effectively.

Request your free Switching from Commercial Health Insurance to Medicare guide to learn about more options that may lower your prescription drug costs.