Protect Your Health and Your Wallet with Lending Hand Insurance

At Lending Hand Insurance, we understand how important it is to have the right health coverage as you approach retirement or manage ongoing healthcare needs. Medicare can feel complicated, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. Our role is to help you compare your options and make confident decisions about your healthcare coverage. 

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for:

• People 65 and older
   
• Some younger individuals with qualifying disabilities
   
• People with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplant)

•  Inpatient hospital stays
   
• Skilled nursing facility care (short-term rehabilitation, not long-term custodial care)
   
• Hospice services
   
• Some home health care
   

Most people do not pay a premium for Part A if they worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years.

• Doctor visits (primary care and specialists)
   
• Outpatient services and procedures
   
• Preventive care (annual wellness visits, cancer screenings, vaccines)
   
• Durable medical equipment (like wheelchairs or walkers)
   

Part B requires a monthly premium, which is based on income.

• Private plans that combine Part A and Part B, and often Part D (prescription drugs).
   
• May include extra benefits such as dental, vision, hearing, and fitness programs.
   
• Offered by Medicare-approved private insurance companies.
   

You must still be enrolled in Part A and Part B to join a Medicare Advantage plan.

• Helps pay for prescription medications.
   
• Plans vary in cost and which drugs they cover (called a formulary).
   
• Provided by private insurers approved by Medicare.

• Initial Enrollment Period (IEP): A 7-month window when you first become eligible for Medicare (typically begins 3 months before your 65th birthday).
   
• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP): October 15 – December 7 each year. You can switch or make changes to your coverage.
   
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA-OEP): January 1 – March 31. If you’re already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can change plans or return to Original Medicare.

Lending Hand Insurance is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov

or 1-800-MEDICARE for information on all your options.