Why Does Medicare Not Cover Shingles Vaccine

Generally medicare prescription drug plans part d cover all commercially available vaccines like the shingles shot needed to prevent illness.

Why does medicare not cover shingles vaccine.

Surprisingly original medicare parts a and b doesn t cover the shingles vaccine even though it covers other vaccines like the flu vaccine and pneumonia shot. Medicare part a hospital insurance or medicare part b medical insurance doesn t cover the shingles shot. Contact your medicare drug plan for more information about coverage. Read on to learn.

Medicare coverage for shingrix and zostavax the two commercially available. That s because the federal program that insures most seniors in the u s. 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. Here s the quick answer.

The devil is in the details. However if you have a medicare advantage or medicare part d plan part or all of the cost should be covered. Medicare part b covers a small handful of vaccines for the flu hepatitis b and the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. Part a which deals with hospital costs doesn t cover shingles shots either.

Each plan may cover the vaccine differently. On the other hand medicare part d or a medicare advantage plan that includes part d coverage typically does cover the vaccine. People with traditional medicare may purchase a separate part d drug plan while medicare advantage plans sold by private insurers typically include prescription coverage. Original medicare does not cover the cost of the shingles vaccine.