
What is Medicare Part B?
Part B helps cover:
• Helps cover doctor services and outpatient care.
• Helps cover some preventive services to help maintain a person’s health and to keep certain illnesses from getting worse.
• Generally pays 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for covered services
Services That Are Covered By Part B
What is Medicare Part B?
How Much Does Medicare Part B Cost?
Your modified adjusted gross income is your taxable income plus your tax-exempt interest income. Social Security will notify you if you have to pay more than the standard premium. If you have to pay a higher amount for your Part B premium and you disagree (even if you get Railroad Retirement Board benefits), call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. TTY users should call 1-800-325-0778.
If you don’t sign up for Part B when you are first eligible, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty.
How Do I Get Medicare Part B?
• If you’re under 65 and disabled, you’ll automatically get Part B after you get disability benefits from Social Security or certain disability benefits from the RRB for 24 months. You’ll get your Medicare card in the mail about 3 months before your 65th birthday or your 25th month of disability.
• If you don’t want Part B, follow the instructions that come with the card, and send the card back. If you keep the card, you keep Part B and will pay Part B premiums.
• If you have ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), you automatically get Part B the month your disability benefits begin.
What Services are Covered Under Medicare Part B?
Medically-Necessary Services
Services or supplies that are needed to diagnose or treat your medical condition and that meet accepted standards of medical practice.
Preventive Services
Health care to prevent illness or detect it at an early stage, when treatment is most likely to work best (for examples see Medicare & You Handbook).