A Medicare Advantage Health Plan is a sort of hybrid. These are private health insurance plans provided by private companies, but they are still part of the Medicare program. You must have Medicare Parts A & B to join a Medicare Advantage program. You'll still have to pay your Part B premium to Medicare, and you might have to pay an additional premium to your Medicare Advantage provider. But your coverage will be more complete.

Advantage programs cover everything in Original Medicare and a lot more. Co-payments may be lower or non-existent. They may cover services and benefits not included in Original Medicare. With some programs, you can also opt for an MA PD (more Medicare alphabet soup!), which stands for Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug coverage. In that case, you won't need to plow through the long list of options for Medicare Plan D drug coverage, because you'll already be covered.

Medicare Advantage Health Plans are Provided by:

• Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
• Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)
• Private Fee-for-Service Plans
• Medicare Special Needs Plans