The answer is: Probably. Most people qualify for premium-free Part A if they (or their spouse) paid Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes during their working years. If you do not have enough credits for paying FICA (usually 40 credits, or 10 years of work), you will have to pay a premium for Part A. The amount varies based on the number of credits you have (in 2024, $505 a month for less than 30 credits, $278 a month for 30–39 credits).

If you delay enrollment into Part A because you or your spouse are actively working and covered by employer insurance, and you earn enough credits by the time you stop working, you won’t have to pay a late-enrollment penalty when you first enroll and can get Part A premium free. But Medicare does not count COBRA or retirement insurance, and if you’ve used one of those coverages, you must pay a penalty. For ​Part A, this penalty is 10 percent of the highest premium, and you pay it for twice the number of years you weren’t signed up.

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are a valuable tool to help people with rehabilitation needs after a hospital stay. Though SNFs may be cohoused in nursing homes, they are intended to provide short-term inpatient services before the patient returns home.

Medicare has a comparison tool that helps you assess SNFs in your area. Go to medicare.gov/care-compare and click on “Nursing homes including rehab services” to search by ZIP code. The tool lets you compare quality scores and learn more about the types of conditions treated. Just a reminder: For Medicare Part A to cover your husband’s stay in an SNF, he must have spent at least three nights as a hospital inpatient and enter the facility within 30 days of leaving the hospital.

Yes, it’s true. The doughnut hole—or Part D coverage gap—happens when a drug plan imposes a limit on what they’ll cover for prescriptions. Once you and the plan have spent up to a certain amount ($5,030 for covered drugs in 2024), you enter the doughnut hole. In this gap, you pay 25 percent of the cost of your prescriptions until you reach the maximum out-of-pocket spending limit. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included a provision to close the doughnut hole for good. Beginning in 2025, you will not pay more than $2,000 out-of-pocket for your Medicare-covered drugs.