There are 3 main parts to Medicare currently: A, B, and D.
Part A covers hospital inpatient stays, and if you've been working and paying into Medicare long enough (through payroll deductions) you don't have to pay a premium for Part A. If you don't qualify for free Part A, (usually because you or your spouse paid in for less than 10 years - 40 quarters) then the premium is between $240 and $437 per month.
Part B covers medically necessary doctor visits, outpatient care, durable medical equipment, home health, and mental health services.
Part B premiums start at $135.5/month if you earned less than $85K in the tax year 2 years prior to the plan year and increases in 5 tiers to a top premium of $460/month
Part B also has a $185 deductible, after which you pay 20% of the Medicare approved amount for any procedures you have.
Part D covers prescription drugs.
Most Part D plans have a premium, but nothing is listed on the Medicare site, other than the 5 tier add-on which starts at $12.40/month for incomes over $85K in the tax year 2 years prior to the plan year. The Part D deductible is also variable, but not more than $415 in 2019 and $435 in 2020.
You can check all this, and details of what's covered here; https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs
________________
Some of the things Medicare doesn't cover are:
- Long-term care (also called custodial care )
- Most dental care
- Eye exams related to prescribing glasses
- Dentures
- Cosmetic surgery
- Acupuncture
- Hearing aids and exams for fitting them
- Routine foot care
- Medicare pays less than commercial insurance to both doctors and hospitals. This will be a problem. Operating costs (rent, utilities, equipment maintenance, insurance -- both facility and malpractice) aren't getting cheaper. Staff have to be paid. Doctors, nurses, techs, janitors, and all the other people who make hospitals, clinics and doctors offices run don't work for free. As things stand, smaller hospitals and clinics -- especially in rural areas are having a hard time making ends meet.
- Medicare doesn't cover everything. If you need a drug that isn't on the approved list, or a procedure that's not covered, you're S.O.L.
- Medicare was designed for senior care and end of life care. Most people spend 60 years give or take before they need a lot of the care Medicare is designed to provide. This means that before it can be implemented, there's going to have to be a whole lot of revision undertaken.
- Dumping the private insurance system, cumbersome, expensive and inefficient as it is will put a whole load of people out of work. Between 6 and 10 million people are employed in health insurance and related areas. I think Warren's estimate of 2 million jobs lost is an understatement, but even that is a lot of people to suddenly find themselves out of work. -------------------------------------- Yes, we need health care reform, but "Medicare for All" isn't it. In fact, "Medicare for All" isn't a plan or a policy -- it's a slogan. The Devil, as they say, is in the details. And there are A LOT of details.