Medicare Part A

• Hospital Care​
• Skilled Nursing Facility
  
• Nursing home care (as long as custodial care isn't the only care you need)
  
• HospiceHome health services
  

You usually don’t pay a monthly premium for Part A coverage if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes while working.

If you aren’t eligible for premium-free Part A, you may be able to buy Part A if you meet one of the following conditions:

You are age 65 or older, and you are entitled to (or enrolling in) Part B and meet the citizenship or residency requirements.
You are under age 65, disabled, and your premium-free Part A coverage ended because you returned to work.

Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 for more information about the Part A premium. TTY users should call 1-800-325-0778.

In most cases, if you choose to buy Part A, you must also have Part B and pay monthly premiums for both. If you have limited income and resources, your state may help you pay for Part A and/or Part B.

You can find out if you have Part A by looking at your Medicare card.

Note: Keep this card safe. If you have Original Medicare, you will use this card to get your Medicare-covered services. If you join a Medicare plan, you must use the card from the plan to get your Medicare-covered services.

Many people automatically get Part A

If you get benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), you automatically get Part A starting the first day of the month you turn age 65. If you are under age 65 and disabled, you automatically get Part A after you get disability benefits from Social Security or certain disability benefits from the RRB for 24 months.

You will get your Medicare card in the mail three months before your 65th birthday or your 25th month of disability.

If you have ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), you automatically get Part A the month your disability benefits begin.

SOME PEOPLE NEED TO SIGN UP FOR PART A

If you aren’t getting Social Security or RRB benefits (for instance, because you are still working), you will need to sign up for Part A (even if you are eligible to get it premium-free). You should contact Social Security three months before you turn age 65. If you worked for a railroad, contact the RRB to sign up.

If you need to sign up for Part A, you can sign up during the following times:

nitial Enrollment Period—When you are first eligible for Medicare. (This is a 7-month period that begins three months before the month you turn age 65, includes the month you turn age 65, and ends three months after the month you turn age 65.)

General Enrollment Period—Between January 1 - March 31 each year. Your coverage will begin July 1. You may have to pay a higher premium for late enrollment. See below.

Special Enrollment Period—If you or your spouse (or family member if you are disabled) is currently working, and you are covered by a group health plan through the employer or union.

Special Enrollment Period for International Volunteers—If you are serving as a volunteer in a foreign country.

If you aren’t eligible for premium-free Part A, you may be able to buy it. However, if you don’t buy Part A when you are first eligible, your monthly premium may go up 10%. You will have to pay the higher premium for twice the number of years you could have had Part A, but didn’t join. For example, if you were eligible for Part A, but didn’t join for two years, you will have to pay the higher premium for four years. You don’t have to pay a penalty if you are eligible for a special enrollment period.

Visit Medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to find out what you pay for inpatient hospital stays and skilled nursing facility care in 2016. TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. Note: Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care or custodial care.
For more information on Part A, call Social Security, or visit www.socialsecurity.gov. If you get benefits from the RRB, call 1-877-772-5772.

You can learn more about the Original Medicare Plan and the Medicare program by reading  “Medicare and You”, the official government handbook about Medicare.