Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older. You’re first eligible to sign up for Medicare 3 months before you turn 65. You may be eligible to get Medicare earlier if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease). 

Follow these steps to learn about Medicare, how to sign up, and your coverage options. Learn about it at your own pace. 

Learn the parts of Medicare:

Part A (Hospital Insurance): Helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care.

Part B (Medical Insurance): Helps cover:

• Services from doctors and other healthcare providers
• Outpatient care
• Home health care
• Durable medical equipment (like wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and other equipment)
• Many preventive services (like screenings, shots or vaccines, and yearly “Wellness” visits)

Part D (Drug coverage): Helps cover:

• The cost of prescription drugs (including many recommended shots or vaccines). You join a Medicare drug plan in addition to Original Medicare, or you get it by joining a Medicare Advantage Plan with drug coverage. Plans that offer Medicare drug coverage are run by private insurance companies that follow rules set by Medicare.