As you approach Medicare age, we'll be in touch

As you near 65, you’ll get plenty of information about Medicare, including from Samaritan Ministries.

We won’t be trying to sell you anything, though. We’ll be giving you information about how your Samaritan membership works if you opt in to Medicare.

The main thing we want you to know is that we aren’t Medicare experts. To ask questions about Medicare, you’ll need to contact your local Social Security office or go to SSA.gov.

You will be automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A (which covers some hospitalization expenses) when you turn 65. Then you may need to decide whether you want to purchase Medicare Part B (for physician and other services) and Part D (prescriptions).

You may also need to consider potential penalties if you don’t sign up for Part A, B, or D right away. For more details on that, you should contact your Social Security office. A helpful summary of penalties can be found here.

What we can tell you is how Samaritan membership works for members who also participate in Medicare. And it’s actually pretty simple.

First, the Need-sharing process is the same as if you were covered under your own or a spouse’s health insurance plan. In this case, you first submit medical bills to Medicare, unless the provider doesn’t accept Medicare. This is explained in our Guidelines in Section VI.B.1.a. Then after Medicare has processed your bills, your remaining bills will be shared with members in accordance with the Samaritan Guidelines.

Second, you can submit medical bills or portions of bills that Medicare won’t cover. We’ll share them as long as they meet the Guidelines. Examples of such bills would include surgeries, emergency care, and medications.

Third, you still have the flexibility to choose the Samaritan program that works best for you and your family once you join Medicare. Samaritan™ Classic and Samaritan™ Basic interact with Medicare in different ways. If you are considering participating in both Medicare and Samaritan, please reach out to us to understand the value provided by both the Classic and Basic programs to determine the best choice for your situation.

Samaritan Ministries values the freedom of our members to make their own health care choices. Medicare is one of those choices.

So, if you’re getting close to age 65, be watching for that letter!