Which statement describes the Medicare safety net?

• A. It reduces all co-payments after threshold
• B. It eliminates co-payments completely
• C. It provides extra financial support when there is a large amount of co payment
• D. It funds the PBS

Answer: (C)

The Medicare safety net provides extra financial help once your yearly out-of-pocket costs for Medicare-listed services reach a set threshold. After you hit that threshold, Medicare pays a higher portion of the costs for eligible services for the rest of the year, which reduces what you pay when you have large co-payments. It isn’t about eliminating all co-payments, and it doesn’t fund the PBS. So the statement that it provides extra financial support when there is a large amount of co payment correctly describes it.