Will Medicare Pay for the Coronavirus?

Reader Alert: Beginning Tuesday March 17, 2020 all local Social Security offices nationwide were closed to in-person visits and have asked those who need assistance to call your local Social Security office or Social Security’s 800 number at 1/800-772-1213 for assistance by phone.  There is not a specified reopen date for local Social Security offices currently.

Toni:

I must have missed this when listening to the national media coverage of the Coronavirus, but no one has explained how Medicare is covering the testing, vaccinations or quarantined in a hospital if anyone in my family that is on Medicare becomes infected with the virus.

My husband and I have recently retired and are covered by Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement and a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan. Our parent’s situations are different as they both are covered by Medicare Advantage plans.  My parents are both Texas retired teachers covered by TRS Medicare Advantage plan and my husband’s parents are covered by his father’s employer retiree Medicare Advantage plan.

How will Medicare pay for these different situations? I’d like to know what to do if I must take one of my family members or myself to the doctor or hospital.  Thanks, Sheila from Bellaire, TX

Sheila:

We are witnessing a healthcare crisis that no one can be sure if they are safe.  Especially the 60+million Medicare beneficiaries frightened of COVID-19, the disease caused by Coronavirus…