Your Medicare Rights
No matter how you get Medicare, you have rights and protections that:
- Provide for your safety when you get health care.
- Ensure you get the health care services the law says you can get.
- Shield you against unethical practices.
- Safeguard your privacy.
You have the right to be:
- Treated with courtesy, dignity and respect at all times.
- Protected from discrimination. Every company or agency that works with Medicare must obey the law. They can’t treat you differently because of your race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, or sex.
You have the right to have:
- Your personal and health information kept private.
- Access to doctors, specialists, and hospitals for medically necessary services.
You have the right to get:
- Medicare-covered services in an emergency.
- Information in a way you understand from Medicare, health care providers, and, under certain circumstances, contractors.
- Information about your treatment choices in clear language that you can understand, and participate in treatment decisions.
- Medicare information and health care services in a language you understand.
- Your Medicare information in an accessible format, like braille or large print.
- Answers to your Medicare questions.
- A decision about health care payment, coverage of items and services, or drug coverage.
