The PlanMatch Blog
Timely, plain-language guidance on Medicare — written and reviewed by a licensed agent, and kept current as the rules and figures move.
Medicare
Yes. Medicare covers part-time skilled care at home — nursing, physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy, and home health aide services alongside them — when a doctor certifies you need it, you're homebound, and a Medicare-certified agency provides it. You pay nothing for covered home health services; equipment is billed separately.
October 6, 2026
Medicare
Yes — Medicare Part B covers ground ambulance transportation when traveling any other way could endanger your health, and emergency air ambulance when ground transport can't get you there in time. You generally pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after the Part B deductible. Non-emergency rides are covered only in limited, medically necessary situations.
September 29, 2026
Medicare
Yes. Medicare Part B covers medically necessary outpatient physical therapy, with no annual cap on how much therapy Medicare will pay for. After the Part B deductible, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount; therapy during a covered hospital or skilled nursing stay falls under Part A, and home health rules are different again.
September 22, 2026
Medicare
Medicare Star Ratings are Medicare's own 1-to-5 score of how well a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan performs on quality, member experience, and customer service. They're published each fall before Open Enrollment, they can open a special enrollment window, and they don't tell you whether a plan covers your doctors or your drugs.
September 15, 2026
Medicare
A denial is a decision, and a decision can be reviewed. Medicare's appeals process has five levels, and each one has its own filing deadline and its own response time — which differ depending on whether you have Original Medicare or a Medicare health plan.
September 8, 2026
Medicare
A Medicare drug plan's formulary is the list of drugs it covers and the tier each one sits on. Here is how that list is built, what the coverage rules attached to it do, and the process for asking a plan to make an exception.
September 1, 2026
Medicare
Medicare Advantage and Part D plans send an Annual Notice of Change in September describing what will be different in January. It is the one document that tells you whether next year's version of your plan is still the plan you chose.
August 25, 2026
Medicare
Medicare Supplement insurance has its own enrollment timing, separate from the fall dates. A six-month period tied to Part B, defined situations that carry the same protection later, and state rules that can be broader than the federal ones.
August 18, 2026
Medicare
Employer coverage can let you delay Medicare without a penalty — or leave you exposed — and the deciding factor is usually how many people your employer has. Here is how the rule works, and what the windows on either side look like.
August 11, 2026
Medicare
Original Medicare has no out-of-pocket ceiling — the 20% you pay has no cap. Medicare Advantage caps costs at up to $9,250 in 2026, and Medigap works differently again. Here's the honest map.
August 4, 2026
Medicare
Part B is $202.90, the Part A hospital deductible is $1,736, and Part D finally has a $2,100 cap. Here's what each one means for you.
June 21, 2026
Medicare
Original Medicare covers almost nothing outside the U.S. Here's what that means for travel, and the coverage that fills the gap.
June 21, 2026