Medicare Overview
The Health Insurance for the Aged and Disabled Act (title XVIII of the Social Security Act), known as "Medicare," has made available to nearly every American 65 years of age and older a broad program of health insurance designed to assist the nation's elderly to meet hospital, medical, and other health costs. Health insurance coverage has also been extended to persons under age 65 qualifying as disabled and those having end stage renal disease (ESRD) or Lou Gehrig's disease. The program includes two related health insurance programs—hospital insurance (HI) (Part A) and supplementary medical insurance (SMI) (Part B).
Refer to the following resources, which are made available on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Web site.
CMS
Home Page 
— The
CMS Home Web Page offers a variety of Medicare topics and allows you to
browse for information by your provider type.
Medicare
General Information, Eligibility, and Entitlement Manual (CMS Pub.
100-01)
- §10.1—Hospital Insurance (Part A) for Inpatient Hospital, Hospice, Home Health and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Services - A Brief Description
- §10.3—Supplementary Medical Insurance (Part B) - A Brief Description
- §40—Role of Part A Intermediaries
- §50—Role of Part B Carriers
- §10—Hospital Insurance Entitlement
- §40—Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)
- §50—Identifying the Patient's Health Insurance Record Using the Health Insurance Card
- §10.1—Inpatient Hospital Deductible
- §10.3—Basis for Determining the Part A Coinsurance Amounts
Chapter 1—General
Information
Chapter 2—Hospital
Insurance and Supplementary Medical Insurance
Chapter 3—Deductibles,
Coinsurance Amounts, and Payment Limitations
Page last updated: September 12, 2008
