Your mother's employer should provide her with some benefit information as well. She has two options. She can choose a managed Medicare, which would be similar to her previous plan or she can choose a supplemental insurance plan to cover deductibles. If she is going with a traditional Medicare plan she should enroll in part B benefits as well so she does not incur a penalty for late enrollment. The premium for part B is currently $96.40 per month, unless her annual income is over $85,000 and is usually deducted directly from social security payments. The current deductible for 2011 for part B is $162 and for part A is $1,132. The co-payment for hospital stay days 61-90 is $283 a day and for days 91-150 is $566 a day. If she should require skilled nursing the co-payment for days 21-100 is $141.50 per day. You can see why it would benefit her to obtain a Medicare supplement plan to help with co-payments.

You also want to make sure she has prescription coverage either through HMO or Medicare Part D plan. She may qualify for assistance with prescriptions through PAAD (Pharmacy Assistance for the Aged and Disabled).