Everything You Need to Know About Medicare

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In January, I became one of the millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare.

The process of joining the 61 million Americans now enrolled in our national health insurance system for seniors and folks with certain disabilities or conditions wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was no walk in the park, either.

The Medicare system, including options like Medicare Advantage plans and Medigap policies, has lots of moving parts.

First, you have to sign up with the Social Security Administration if you have yet to start claiming Social Security benefits. You apply, then have a (virtual) meeting with a government employee. Along the way, you have to consider what’s covered by Medicare, what’s not covered and what’s partially covered.

And if you’re considering a Medicare Advantage plan or Medigap — which are offered by private insurance companies approved by the federal Medicare program — you have to compare features within those as well and deal with the agents selling them.

In short, there’s a lot to know. Which makes this topic perfect for a podcast.

For this week’s “Money!” podcast, we were lucky to secure a couple of genuine experts. The first is Rebecca Kinney, director for the Administration for Community Living‘s Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling. Also joining us is Maggie Flowers, the program manager for the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs.

These ladies not only provided the facts, they did it in simple terms and even made it interesting.

As usual, my co-host is financial journalist Miranda Marquit, and we’re joined by our producer and sound effects guy, Aaron Freeman.

Sit back, relax and listen to this week’s “Money!” podcast:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Listen on Google Podcasts
• Listen on Spotify

Not familiar with podcasts?

A podcast is basically a radio show you can listen to anytime, either by downloading it to your smartphone or other device, or by listening online.

They’re totally free. They can be any length (ours are typically about a half-hour), feature any number of people and cover any topic you can possibly think of. You can listen at home, in the car, while jogging or, if you’re like me, when riding your bike.

You can listen to our latest podcasts here or download them to your phone from any number of places, including Apple, Spotify, RadioPublic, Stitcher and RSS.

If you haven’t listened to a podcast yet, give it a try, then subscribe to ours. You’ll be glad you did!

Show notes

Want more information? Check out these resources:

• Medicare.gov (the federal government’s official Medicare website)
• Medicare.gov’s plan finder
• SHIPTACenter.org (SHIP National Technical Assistance Center website)
• 877-839-2675 (SHIP National Technical Assistance Center phone number)
• “4 Pitfalls for First-Time Medicare Enrollees“
• “5 Common Medical Expenses That Medicare Won’t Pay For“
• “6 Ways to Cut Your Medicare Costs“
• More Medicare articles from Money Talks News
• The Money Talks News newsletter
• Our The Only Retirement Guide You’ll Ever Need course
• Our Money Made Simple course

About me

I founded Money Talks News in 1991. I’m a CPA, and I have also earned licenses in stocks, commodities, options principal, mutual funds, life insurance, securities supervisor and real estate.