One of the most common questions I am coming across right now is, “Will Medicare pay for the tests and treatments if I get COVID-19?”
This is a great question.
First of all, I hope that you nor anyone else get Coronavirus. But if you do, here’s how it works.
Right now, the process is if you get Coronavirus, you go and get a test from your doctor to confirm it. Now, that test will be covered by Medicare Part B.
Medicare Part B is the part of Medicare that covers your doctor’s visits, your lab tests, and things like that.
Let’s assume that you test positive. At this point, you go home and you’re just kind of at home by yourself now in quarantine. Now, if it were to go down the wrong path and you end up needing to go to the hospital for breathing issues or anything else, that’s when Medicare Part A will likely come into play.
Medicare Part A is for your hospital visits.
That means, if you end up going to the hospital, then Medicare Part A will cover it.
With that said, Medicare Part A isn’t as predictable as what I’d like for it to be.
For example, I have a friend of mine, and her mom lives in Texas. A few years ago, her mom went to have her appendix removed. It was a hospital surgery, and she stayed in the night in the hospital. Her mom assumed that Medicare Part A would cover it. However, her procedure was still considered to be outpatient, even though she was in the hospital for a night.
That means, if you end up in the hospital for Coronavirus, I would expect it to be covered under Medicare Part A, but that can be a little bit finicky.
Now, the reason why it matters if Medicare Part A or Medicare Part B covers it is because it depends on how much you, your supplement, or your Medicare Advantage plan will pay for that treatment.
Different programs have different rules as to how much they will or will not pay. Right Medicare Part Part B, Medicare pays the first 80 percent of the cost, and you pay the remaining 20 percent. Now, if you have a supplement plan, that will pay the other 20 percent.
Medicare Part A is a beast of its own in terms of how costs are broken down. However, I hope that none of you need this information, but I think the big takeaway here is if you do get Coronavirus, Medicare will likely cover your testing and your treatments for it.
I hope that clears things up. I know it’s kind of crazy out there right now. So hopefully this brings some peace of mind to you as to how Medicare covers it.
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