Will Medicare Pay For Shingles Vaccine

Medicare part a hospital insurance or medicare part b medical insurance doesn t cover the shingles shot.

Will medicare pay for shingles vaccine.

The concern over getting shingles tends to grow as we age. The shingles shot may help prevent shingles but is not 100 effective. 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. You won t pay anything for vaccines that medicare part b covers.

Remember that if you only have original medicare and no prescription drug coverage through medicare. The centers for disease control and prevention cdc advises people 60 years old and over to be vaccinated against shingles whether or not they remember ever having suffered from chickenpox which is caused by the identical virus as shingles. And if you haven t yet met your plan s deductible for the year you ll likely pay the full price. The amount you pay for the shingles vaccine will depend on how much your medicare plan covers.

Medicare part b covers a small handful of vaccines for the flu hepatitis b and the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. Will medicare cover the shingles vaccine. Generally medicare prescription drug plans part d cover all commercially available vaccines like the shingles shot needed to prevent illness. 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.

Contact your medicare drug plan for more information about coverage. Original medicare part a and part b does not cover the shingles vaccination but medicare part d does. Most require a copayment which can vary widely from plan to plan. Medicare beneficiaries who are able to get their hands on a dose of the new shingles vaccine which has been in short supply may pay more than they expect.