How Medicare Health Insurance Helps Beneficiaries

Medicare health insurance was established to help its beneficiaries get good, affordable medical care.  It can be used along with your standard insurance plan to help you meet your medical expenses.  Medicare health insurance can help patients with the expenses incurred with hospitalization.  It has health and drug plans and can help pay for prescription drugs.

One of the growing problems with health care is being experienced by those patients who have five or more diseases considered “chronic”.  According to statistics, that encompasses more than half the population of Medicare beneficiaries!  These patients are under the care of numerous doctors and there is not always effective communication between the doctors.  This can lead, and has led to serious problems for the patients.  In an effort to mitigate this situation, the government has passed something called the Affordable Care Act.

The idea is to improve communication between the patient’s doctors so that everyone is aware of what treatments and medications the patient is taking.  If you are a Medicare health insurance beneficiary who sees different physicians at different locations and you suffer from more than one chronic condition such as kidney disease or diabetes, the Affordable Care Act was designed to help you.  Your care can be coordinated through an Accountable Care Organization worker who will advocate for you by coordinating your care with other health providers.

Another program created to benefit Medicare patients is the Extra Help Program.  It provides extra help for low income beneficiaries with limited resources.  To find out whether you qualify, contact Social Security, either in the office or online.  The Extra Help Program can help you with prescription drug costs, as well as your deductibles and your co-payments.  The Extra Help Program can help you get the medication you need, even when you can’t afford it.