What do Medicare Parts A, B, C and D mean?

There are four parts of Medicare. Each one helps pay for different health care costs.

Part A helps pay for hospital and facility costs. This includes things like a shared hospital room, meals and nurse care. It can also help cover the cost of hospice, home health care and skilled nursing facilities.

Part B helps pay for medical costs. This is care that happens outside of a hospital. It includes things like doctor visits and outpatient procedures. It also covers some preventive care, like flu shots.

Parts A and B together are called Original Medicare. These two parts are run by the federal government. Find out more about what Original Medicare covers in our Help Center.

Part C helps pay for hospital and medical costs, plus more. Part C plans are only available through private health insurance companies. They’re called Medicare Advantage plans. They cover everything Parts A and B cover, plus more. They usually cover more of the costs you’d have to pay for out of pocket with Medicare Parts A and B. Part C plans put a limit on what you pay out of pocket in a given year, too. Some of these plans cover preventive dental, vision and hearing costs. Original Medicare doesn’t.

You can see a list of the Medicare Advantage plans we offer and what they cover.

Part D helps pay for prescription drugs. Part D plans are only available through private health insurance companies. They’re called prescription drug plans. They cover commonly used brand-name and generic drugs. Some plans cover more drugs than others.

You can read about our prescription drug plans and what they cover. Many Medicare Advantage plans include Part D prescription drug plans built right into them.

Related items

• Who is eligible for Medicare?
• What is the difference between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage?
• What are Medicare Part D prescription drug plans?