Medicare Advantage plans are health insurance plans offered by private companies that contract with Medicare to provide all your Part A and Part B benefits. These plans offer more coverage than Medicare alone, often for a lower price, and many of them also offer prescription drug coverage.

The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period happens every year (October 15 through December 7). During this period, current Medicare users can choose to re-evaluate part of their Medicare coverage (their Medicare Advantage and/or Part D plan), compare it to other plans and change to another plan.

A fixed amount for a covered service, paid by a patient to the provider of the service before receiving it. A copay may be defined in an insurance policy and paid by an insured person each time a medical service is accessed.

Your expenses for medical care that aren’t reimbursed by insurance. Out-of-pocket costs include deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments for covered services, plus all costs for services that aren’t covered.

The percentage of costs of a covered healthcare service you pay (20%, for example) after you’ve paid your deductible.

The amount you pay for your health insurance every month. In addition to your premium, you usually have to pay other costs for your healthcare, including a deductible, copayments, and coinsurance. If you have a Marketplace health plan, you may be able to lower your costs with a premium tax credit.