What Is Covered Under Medicare Part A & B? 
Medicare Part A is , in short , your hospital insurance . It covers inpatient hospital care , skilled nursing facility care , nursing home care , hopsice care , and home health services . Please note , there are limitations to what Medicare pays and for how long it will pay for given services . If you want to have adequate coverage for long-term care types of services -LRB- e.g. nursing home care , hospice care , and home services -RRB- , you will want to supplement your Medicare coverage with a separate long-term care policy . Medicare Part B is , in short , your physician insurance . This part of Medicare covers things like doctor visits , lab tests , surgeries , ambulance services , durable medical equipment -LRB- DMEs -RRB- , and other outpatient services . Medicare Part A & Part B are commonly referred to as Original Medicare and only covers about 80 % of your healthcare expenses . A Medigap plan can cover all or a portion of the other 20 % of expenses . While 20 % does n't seem like it 's going to have a high dollar figure , the bill can add up quite fast . The idea of a Medigap plan is to create a predictable expense structure . If you do n't have a Medigap plan and visited the hospital/had a surgery/etc . , you 'll end up with a massive medical bill real quick . I hope the input is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help and if you have any other questions . Thanks very much . 