Here's What Medicare Part A Costs and Covers in 2018

Older Americans rely on Medicare for much of their healthcare, but it can be hard to understand Medicare's rules. With participants having to juggle how Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D all fit together, you can easily get confused about how much each part of your Medicare coverage costs and what you're getting for your hard-earned money. To answer some of those questions, here are some of the key provisions of Medicare Part A and how you can use it to cover many expensive hospital and inpatient treatment costs.

For most people, Medicare Part A coverage comes without any monthly premium. As long as you paid Medicare payroll taxes during your career or you're married to someone who paid those taxes, then you'll likely qualify for Part A at no cost. Those rare few who didn't have the required 40 quarters of coverage credits to qualify for cost-free Part A coverage will pay $232 per month in 2018 if they had 30 to 39 quarters, or $422 per month if they have fewer than 30 quarters of qualifying work.

However, everyone has to pay deductibles and copayments when they use their Part A coverage. You'll pay the first $1,340 of your Part A expenses in 2018 as a deductible before Medicare starts making payments on your behalf. Exactly how much Medicare pays after that depends on the particular service you need.

Source: Fool.com