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Does Medicare cover Medicare-induced headaches?

I’ve just spent more than two hours reading documents that are supposed to help me understand the system that I need to sign up for later this year, and really, before I can even start

writing about it, I need to take a walk to clear my head.

Certainly I know the basics. Medicare Part A is basic hospital care, and it’s free. Medicare B is insurance for doctor visits and other outpatient care, and it costs money, with higher

premiums charged to people who have relatively high earned income. Medicare D covers drugs. Wait—what happened to C?

Part C, it turns out, is a seldom used name for the Medicare Advantage Plans. I found that out by flipping back and forth in the 123-page “Medicare & You 2010,” the official primer published

by Medicare. Advantage plans are offered by private companies approved by Medicare and, I quote here, “will provide all of your Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance)

coverage. In all plan types, you are always covered for emergency and urgent care. Medicare Advantage Plans must cover all of the services that Original Medicare covers except hospice care.

Original Medicare covers hospice care even if you are in a Medicare Advantage Plan.”

See what I mean?

Then there are medigap plans, insurance you may buy to cover things like copayments and deductibles under Medicare, as well as services that Medicare doesn’t cover, such as an emergency room

visit when you’re on vacation outside the United States. There is an alphabet soup of different gap plans to choose from, including—new this year—Plans M and N. Anyone wanting Plan E, H, I

or J will have to move fast—as of June 1, they’ll no longer be offered.