Seniors Share 6 Tips to Take Full Advantage of Your Medicare Benefits (That Nobody Tells You About)
Medicare takes $202.90 out of your Social Security check every month. Whether you use these 6 tips or not, you’re still paying for them.
Here are the Medicare tips a lot of seniors don’t know about. You’re going to pay for Medicare every month either way. But nobody ever tells you how to get the most out of your benefits, and if you don’t ask, you don’t get them.
So here’s our advice for every tip on this list: pick up the phone and ask if you’re covered. Most of these take one call, and the first one alone could put $202.90 a month back in your pocket. And don’t skip the last one. It’s the biggest benefit on this list, and if you or someone you love gets short of breath, it’s the one to read twice.
1💵 See if your state will pay your $202.90 monthly Medicare premium for you
Every state runs programs that can pay your Medicare premium for you, and if your income is lower, some also cover your copays. That’s $202.90 a month you’d keep.
You may qualify if you’re single and live on less than about $1,800 a month, with less than $9,950 in savings. For a married couple, it’s about $2,450 a month and $14,910. Medicare’s own website says to apply even if you’re over those numbers, because you may still qualify in your state.
The tip: call 1-800-MEDICARE and ask, “How do I apply for a Medicare Savings Program in my state?”
2💊 See if you qualify for Extra Help to get generic prescriptions for $5.80 or less
If you’ve ever stood at the pharmacy counter and put a prescription back because of the price, this one’s for you. There’s a Medicare program called Extra Help that caps what you pay at the pharmacy. With it, you’ll pay no more than $5.80 for a generic drug and $14.40 for a brand-name drug in 2027, and there’s no drug deductible.
If you get your premium paid through tip 1, you get Extra Help automatically. If not, you can still apply on your own. You may qualify if you’re single, your income is under about $24,000 a year and you have less than about $18,000 in savings.
The tip: apply through Social Security at SSA.gov/extrahelp, or ask your free State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor (shiphelp.org) to help you apply.
Short of breath? Skip to #6 →3🚗 Ask if your Medicare Advantage plan covers rides to your doctor appointments
Getting to the doctor gets harder once you stop driving, or when the person who used to drive you can’t anymore. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, it may come with rides to your medical appointments. About 1 in 5 people in Medicare Advantage are in a plan that offers rides, according to KFF.
The tip: call the number on the back of your card and ask, “Does my plan cover rides to my doctor appointments?”
4🛒 Ask if your Medicare Advantage plan gives you an allowance for drugstore items
About 2 in 3 people in Medicare Advantage are in a plan with an allowance for over-the-counter items, according to KFF. That’s money toward things you’d buy at the drugstore anyway, like pain relievers and first-aid supplies. What’s covered and how much you get depends on your plan.
The tip: call your plan and ask, “Do I have an over-the-counter allowance, and how much do I have left this year?”
5🩺 Medicare pays for a free wellness visit every year. Here’s how to keep it free
Medicare covers a wellness visit once a year, and if you’re new to Medicare, a welcome visit too. You’ll usually pay nothing for it, and you get your blood pressure checked, your medications reviewed and a list of the checkups you’re due for.
Good to know before you go: the wellness visit is a check-in, not a full physical. Anything extra, like new tests, can be billed separately, so it’s easier to book those as their own visit.
The tip: when you check in, say “I’m here for my wellness visit only,” and book anything new as a separate visit.
6🫁 Start pulmonary rehab for COPD from your living room for as low as $0*
This is the one we wish more people knew. If your COPD is moderate to severe and your doctor refers you, Medicare can cover pulmonary rehab, a supervised exercise and education program. In a typical year, fewer than 4 in 100 Medicare patients with COPD use it. Nobody calls to tell you it’s covered. For most people it’s meant getting to a clinic or hospital 2 or 3 times a week, and when you’re short of breath, getting there is the hard part.
Carda Health runs pulmonary rehab at home, over live video. You get your own clinical exercise physiologist, who supervises every session and watches your heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen while you exercise. Sessions run 30 to 45 minutes, usually 3 times a week, for 12 weeks.
Before your first session, Carda ships a care package to your door with a tablet that already has the Carda app on it, a heart rate monitor and a blood pressure monitor, and someone from the care team walks you through setting it up.
Carda says, “Over 92% of our patients state they breathe better after just 12 weeks.” Here’s what two of them wrote in their reviews on Carda’s website:
“My energy level has increased and am now able to climb stairs without losing my breath which is especially great with COPD.”
“I was literally stuck in my house on my oxygen 24/7. Now I can go to the grocery store, visit friends, have a LIFE!”
A large study of Medicare patients hospitalized for COPD found that the ones who started pulmonary rehab within 90 days of going home were less likely to die in the following year.
Here’s the money part. Carda says its program is covered by Medicare and supplemental plans, and if you have a supplement plan that picks up your share, your cost with Carda can be as low as $0*. Carda also takes a refundable $195 payment for your care package, and you get it back when you finish the 12-week program. Not sure what your plan covers? Carda’s team will verify your coverage for you.
*pending insurance verification of medigap or other similar health plan
How it works:
- Take the free 5-minute eligibility check
- Get matched with your own clinical exercise physiologist
- Get your care package delivered to your door
- Finish your 12-week program
Carda pulls your medical history and lets your doctor know you’re enrolled, and in most cases Carda doesn’t have to wait for approval to get you started.
One thing to know before you call: Carda can only accept a limited number of new patients each month.
You’re likely a fit for Carda’s eligibility check if:
✔️ You have COPD, chronic bronchitis or emphysema
✔️ You have Medicare
Free 5-minute check
Prefer to talk? Call (866) 932-5104.
*pending insurance verification of medigap or other similar health plan