People With Medicare

Medicare Coverage and Costs

If you have cancer, the type and amount of care you need may change as you are treated. There are three major types of treatment:

• Surgery
• Radiation
• Chemotherapy

You may get two or more of these treatments at the same time or one after another.

What does Medicare cover?

Cancer treatment can cost a lot. But Medicare will help pay to diagnose medical and mental health conditions you face. Medicare covers these services:

• Doctor visits
• Certain medical items

• Ongoing medical treatment for your cancer diagnosis
• Hospital care
• Second opinions on surgery
• Chemotherapy, or drugs you take, by mouth or by vein
• Radiation
• Medical treatment for other health conditions and side effects of your cancer treatment
• Prescription drugs, for chemotherapy and to treat side effects such as nausea 
• Health care services at home, such as a visiting nurse or rehabilitation therapist and home health aides
• Care to help you do daily tasks, called rehabilitative care
• Mental health services
• Experimental treatments in clinical trials
• Short-term nursing home care
• Hospice or end-of-life care

What will Medicare NOT cover?

Medicare may not pay for everything you need. Medicare often does not cover these services:

• Services that help you bathe, eat, and do other activities of daily living but do not require skilled care
• Nutritional supplements
• Costs to give chemotherapy or other drugs by vein
• Stays in assisted living facilities
• Adult day care
• Long-term nursing home care

Medicare will pay for most of your cancer treatment, but cancer care costs a lot. Your out-of-pocket costs can add up quickly.

Some people with Medicare have supplemental insurance to pay for care Medicare does not cover. This can include:

• A Medigap policy
• Health insurance through a current or past job
• Medicaid, a government health program for people with limited incomes and resources
• Veteran's benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA)

NEXT: Finding a Doctor