Recently a Houston News columnist wrote that Original Medicare and traditional Medicare mean the same thing. At a very high level that is correct. The terms mean pretty much the same to anyone except for a healthcare policy wonk. However the terms Original Medicare and Traditional Medicare do have different meanings and not understanding them can lead to a bad mistake financially.
The Houston News (and medicare.gov itself--see image above) hides an important distinction that is often missed in Medicare how-to columns. Original Medicare is Medicare bureaucracy terminology for a person on Medicare Part A or on both Medicare Parts A and B (mostly the latter). Therefore everyone on Medicare is on Original Medicare. That's because you cannot choose a public Part C Medicare Advantage health plan or a private Medigap supplement without first getting on both Parts of Original Medicare. Many retiree policies also require one or both Parts of Original Medicare. Most people who choose a Part D standalone drug plan are also on both Parts of Original Medicare although it is not required. And a very small group of people on Medicare are only on Medicare Part B.
But everyone of them -- all of the people on Medicare -- are on Original Medicare. That does not mean they are on "traditional Medicare." Traditional Medicare refers to the indemnity-insurance-like 1965-era benefit structure that provides uncoordinated health care cost coverage on a fee-for-service basis (that is, basically one or more Parts of Original Medicare with no supplement or Original Medicare with a Medigap policy). A small and decreasing percentage of Original Medicare beneficiaries use "traditional Medicare" although some retiree insurance is also likely fee for service (but it is still probably at least coordinated in some manner).
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