Medicare / Medicaid

“Medicare” is a large and fairly complex topic which, depending on your need, may require some research to fully understand the various aspects of the program that are important to you. At its most basic level, Medicare is a health insurance program run by the federal government and available to most US citizens over the age of 65, paid in part by payroll taxes over one’s working career.

In this section, we will point you to a variety of useful resources that will cover such topics as:

• Eligibility
• What Medicare covers and what it does not
• Unique aspects of Medicare in a Christian Science context
• Which Christian Science organizations accept payments from Medicare
• How to apply

To start, you might want to look at the Paying for Christian Science Care matrix in a previous topic. You’ll see that there are two implementations of Medicare: Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. There are pros and cons to each implementation, but we have found that Medicare Advantage programs, while sometimes less expensive and often strongly marketed, do not easily or readily pay for care in a Christian Science context. Original Medicare programs do pay if the program criteria are satisfied.

The resource booklet from Arden Wood is a good overview of the various topics listed above and is an excellent primer on Medicare. The official government booklet or website, medicare.gov, will go into great detail about any Medicare-related topic. If you wish to talk through options with a Medicare specialist, you may contact Medicare directly at 1.800.MEDICARE or you may call an agency in your state. Note that in either case, the specialist may have little knowledge of how Medicare works specifically in Christian Science nursing facilities. For that information, contact one of the facilities near you.

For help thinking through these ideas, please call Caring for Christian Scientists at 800.930.3797.