Why Does Medicare Not Cover Shingles 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.

Why does medicare not cover shingles vaccine.

If you re covered by medicare you may feel the pain of a shingles shot more in your wallet than in your arm. On the other hand medicare part d or a medicare advantage plan that includes part d coverage typically does cover the vaccine. Each plan may cover the vaccine differently. However if you have a medicare advantage or medicare part d plan part or all of the cost should be covered.

Original medicare does not cover the cost of the shingles vaccine. Generally medicare prescription drug plans part d cover all commercially available vaccines like the shingles shot needed to prevent illness. You may have a copay to get the vaccine and an additional fee if you haven t yet met your deductible. The devil is in the details.

Medicare part a hospital insurance or medicare part b medical insurance doesn t cover the shingles shot. Medicare coverage for shingrix and zostavax the two commercially available. Part a which deals with hospital costs doesn t cover shingles shots either. Medicare part b covers a small handful of vaccines for the flu hepatitis b and the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine.

Here s the quick answer. That s because the federal program that insures most seniors in the u s. Contact your medicare drug plan for more information about coverage. 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.