Medicare Private Fee-For-Service (PFFS) Plan [Glossary]

A type of Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) in which you can generally go to any doctor or hospital you could go to if you had Original Medicare, if the doctor or hospital agrees to treat you. The plan determines how much it will pay doctors and hospitals, and how much you must pay when you get care.

Medicare Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plan

A type of Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) available in some areas of the country in which you pay less if you use doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers that belong to the plan's network. You can use doctors, hospitals, and providers outside of the network for an additional cost. 

Medicare Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plan

A type of Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) available in some areas of the country. In most HMOs, you can only go to doctors, specialists, or hospitals on the plan's list except in an emergency. Most HMOs also require you to get a referral from your primary care physician.

Medicare-certified provider

A health care provider (like a home health agency, hospital, nursing home, or dialysis facility) that's been approved by Medicare. Providers are approved or "certified" by Medicare if they've passed an inspection conducted by a state government agency. Medicare only covers care given by providers who are certified.

Know your body, know the signs for ovarian cancer

Member for

4 months

Each year, over 22,000 women in the U.S. get ovarian cancer. It’s the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women. Early diagnosis is the key to survival, and the key to early diagnosis is recognizing the symptoms of ovarian cancer:

Bloating

Pelvic or abdominal pain

Trouble eating or feeling full quickly

Urgency or frequency of urination

cms drug spending dashboards

If your drug costs are higher than what you paid last year, talk to your doctor. There may be lower cost drugs you can use instead. This could save you in out-of-pocket costs throughout the year. If you want more information on drug prices, you can look at dashboards that highlight which manufacturers have been increasing their prices and also show other year-to-year drug price information.

There's no limit to the number of benefit periods

There's no limit to the number of benefit periods you can have when you get mental health care in a general hospital. You can also have multiple benefit periods when you get care in a psychiatric hospital. Remember, there's a lifetime limit of 190 days