Information on Senior Citizens & Medicare

Senior citizens are one of the social groups in the U.S. for whom the government has created programs that provide public benefits. Some of these programs are entirely financed by the government, while others require beneficiaries to pay for part of the benefits. Examples of federal programs for senior citizens are Medicare and Social Security retirement.

Senior Citizens and U.S. Programs

• Senior citizens are the main recipients of many governmental benefits because they are generally the social group with the least resources and ability to produce income. Elderly people tend to have more diseases and health problems than younger people because their bodies are aging and losing the energy they once had. Another reason for public benefits is that people around 60 years old are often about to retire, and even if they did not want to do so, many companies prefer hiring younger workers instead of elderly people. For all these reasons, elderly citizens receive a lot of attention from the government, and public benefits for elderly people generally focus on health care and retirement.

Senior Citizens and Medicare

• Medicare is a federal program that helps senior citizens with health-care costs. Medicare Part A is free for those senior citizens who have worked and paid FICA taxes. (FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which established the taxes that are used to fund Social Security and Medicare programs). People who are at least 65 years of age need to have worked and paid FICA taxes for 20 years in order to qualify for free coverage under Part A, which consists of hospital insurance. Senior citizens who enroll in Part A receive help paying for the costs of hospital stays and hospice care. If you reach 65 years of age and you are already receiving your Social Security retirement benefits (or other Social Security benefits), you are automatically enrolled in Part A. Medicare Parts B, C and D are not free, and you are required to pay monthly premiums. So, if you are enrolled in Part B, you can drop it if you do not desire to pay its premiums.

Senior Citizens Who Pay for Medicare

• Even though Medicare Part A is free for people who paid Medicare tax (or whose spouses paid it), it is not free for those who never paid Medicare tax. However, you can purchase Part A if you need health insurance coverage. This is helpful because Medicare premiums are lower than the premiums of current private insurance companies. This is also the case with other parts of Medicare. Part B helps with costs of doctor visits and preventive care. Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, provides additional coverage through private companies. Part D will help you with the costs of prescription drugs.

Enrolling in Medicare

• If you are a senior citizen who is about to turn 65 years of age and you do not yet receive Social Security benefits (because you are still working), you can sign up for Medicare coverage starting three months before your 65th birthday. You can call the Social Security office (at the number provided in the handbook "Medicare and You") or you can sign up on the Social Security website. If you do not sign up for benefits during the enrollment period, you might need to pay a late penalty for Part B and Part D. As of 2011, Part B penalties are an additional 10 percent of your monthly premium. Part D penalty is one percent of $32.34 (the national base beneficiary premium) multiplied by the number of months you did not enroll.