What does Medicare Part B cover?
Medicare Part B helps pay for:
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- Doctors’ services.
- Durable medical equipment (DME) if medical in nature and bought or rented from a Medicare-certified provider.
- Ambulance services when the emergency transportation is from your home to the nearest hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF) that can provide the necessary services, or from a hospital or SNF to your home, or from one facility to another, and any other type of transportation would endanger your health. Medicare Part B also covers paramedic intercept services in rural areas and regularly scheduled, non-emergency transport when your doctor certifies it.
- Some preventive care services.
- Outpatient physical, speech, and occupational therapy services provided by a Medicare-certified physical, speech, or occupational therapist.
- The first three pints of blood you need each year.
- Chiropractic care when manipulation of the spine is medically necessary to fix a subluxation of the spine. A subluxation is when one or more of the bones of the spine move out of position.
- Outpatient mental health services.
- Home health services if you are homebound and have a skilled nursing need.
- X-rays and lab tests.
- A few prescription drugs, such as immunosuppresant drugs, anti-cancer drugs, anti-emetic drugs, some dialysis drugs and physician-administered drugs that are usually not self-administered.
Medicare does not cover all health care services. Medicare will only pay for Part B services and items (except prescription drugs) that are ordered or prescribed by a Medicare-enrolled provider.