Patricia Barry

Although Medicare covers a multitude of medical services, it also has some yawning gaps. Some may surprise you, so the following sections address the broad areas that Medicare doesn’t normally cover, together with some tips for alternative ways of filling in the gaps. Being aware of them from the start is better than being disappointed if Medicare denies coverage after the fact.

Do you really need to know the details of what Parts A, B, C, and D stand for? Doesn’t Medicare just pay its share of your bills and that’s it? Well, not entirely. Medicare’s architecture is more than a tad weird, but each of its building blocks determines the coverage you get and what you pay. © Vitalii VodolazskyiBesides that, however, is the simple fact that making sense of Medicare is difficult unless you understand what Parts A, B, C, and D actually mean.

Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved.A hospital benefit period is one of those pieces in the Medicare jigsaw puzzle that people find especially difficult to understand. And that's not in the least surprising. Wouldn't you think that a benefit period is simply a length of time during which Medicare will cover your care after you're admitted to the hospital?

Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved.If you're in the traditional Medicare program, you must spend at least three days in the hospital as an officially admitted patient before Medicare will cover your stay in an approved SNF. This type of facility (most often a nursing home) is where you may go for further care needed after being discharged from the hospital, such as intravenous injections or physical therapy.

Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved.The great majority of primary-care doctors — 93 percent — still do participate in the Medicare program, with rather fewer — 72 percent — saying that they are accepting new Medicare patients, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2015 National Survey of Primary Care Providers.

Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved.What Medicare pays toward your medical care is coverage. What you contribute out of your own pocket can be several kinds of expenses: premiums, deductibles, and co-payments. If you've had U.S.-style health insurance before, you know exactly what these terms mean. If not, here's a quick primer: Premium: A premium is an amount you pay each month to receive coverage.

Part D, Medicare's program for covering prescription drugs, is a complicated benefit that resembles no other type of drug coverage ever devised. That's why understanding how it works before plunging in is really important. Following is information on the peculiarities of Part D coverage — how it can fluctuate during the year, how different plans have their own lists of drugs they cover, and which drugs are excluded from Part D and which must be covered.

Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved.Perhaps your income and resources are limited but you're not enrolled in one of the Medicare programs that qualify you for Extra Help automatically. In this case, you need to apply for Extra Help. You can apply at any time — when you first join Medicare, when you experience some change in your life that lowers your income, or if you're already enrolled in Part D and have only just realized that Extra Help exists.