Does Medicare Cover Shingles Vaccine 2016

Medicare part b covers a small handful of vaccines for the flu hepatitis b and the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine.

Does medicare cover shingles vaccine 2016.

Shingles shots medicare part a hospital insurance or medicare part b medical insurance doesn t cover the shingles shot. While original medicare medicare part a and part b does not cover the shingles vaccine called shingrix some medicare advantage plans and some medicare part d plans may offer coverage for the vaccine. If you have a medicare advantage plan you will most likely qualify for coverage for all of these vaccines as long as your plan includes prescription drug coverage. Medicare part d optional prescription drug coverage on the other hand may cover the shingles vaccine as well as other commercially available vaccines.

That s because the federal program that insures most seniors in the u s. Shingles is a painful rash caused by the varicella zoster virus also called herpes zoster the same virus that causes chickenpox according to the centers for disease control and prevention. Some of these can include the shingles vaccine tdap vaccine mmr vaccines bcg vaccine for tuberculosis meningococcal vaccines and hepatitis a and b for low risk individuals. Medicare coverage for shingrix and zostavax the two commercially available shingles vaccines is provided only if you are enrolled in a stand alone part d drug plan or a medicare advantage plan that includes part d drug coverage.

Medicare requires part d plans to cover the shingles vaccine so if you re enrolled in part d you shouldn t have difficulty obtaining the shot. People with part d may be responsible for a. Neither medicare part a the hospital insurance nor part b the medical insurance cover the shingles vaccine. All medicare part d drug plans or medicare advantage plans that include prescription coverage typically cover the shingles vaccine.

Original medicare part a and part b won t cover the vaccine. To get this covered you must enroll in either a stand alone medicare prescription drug plan pdp or a medicare advantage plan that includes prescription drug coverage also known as medicare advantage prescription drug plan. How does medicare cover the cost of the shingles vaccine. Your physician or local pharmacy can administer the shingles vaccine.

Generally medicare prescription drug plans part d cover all commercially available vaccines like the shingles shot needed to prevent illness. If you re covered by medicare you may feel the pain of a shingles shot more in your wallet than in your arm. You may have a copayment for the shingles vaccine. Original medicare part a and part b does not cover the shingles vaccination but medicare part d does.

The centers for disease control and prevention cdc recommends healthy adults age 50 and older get the shingles vaccine.