Medicare in Philadelphia: Where to Find Care and Free Counseling

Fishtown Medicine runs on a membership model, and Medicare's billing rules do not fit a flat monthly fee. So we do not accept Medicare here, and we would rather tell you that clearly than have you find out partway through a call.

What we can do is send you somewhere built specifically for this. Philadelphia has several primary care practices designed around Medicare patients, run with the kind of time and attention we believe in, and the state runs a good free counseling program to help you choose between plans without a sales pitch attached. This page collects all of it.

Primary care built for Medicare patients in Philadelphia

These practices are designed around Medicare from the ground up, not primary care that happens to accept it as one plan among many.

• Oak Street Health. Primary care centers built for adults on Medicare, now part of CVS Health, with several Philadelphia locations. oakstreethealth.com
• Dedicated Senior Medical Center. Senior-focused primary care in the ChenMed family, with a high-touch model built around Medicare-eligible patients. dedicated.care
• City of Philadelphia health centers. The Department of Public Health runs neighborhood health centers that accept Medicare alongside every other coverage type. Find a location or call 311.

If you have both Medicare and Medicaid (dual-eligible)

Some people qualify for both programs at once, usually from a combination of age or disability and limited income. Insurers offer a specific kind of plan for this called a D-SNP (Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plan), which combines Medicare and Medicaid coverage into a single plan with extra care coordination built in.

• Oak Street Health and Dedicated Senior Medical Center (both above) work with D-SNP plans and build their care model around this population specifically, so they are where I would point a dual-eligible patient first.
• Your D-SNP plan's member services line (on the back of the insurance card) can confirm which local primary care practices are in its network.
• APPRISE (below) also helps sort out D-SNP options specifically, since dual-eligible plans work differently from standard Medicare Advantage. On Medicaid too, our Medicaid guide covers the application and renewal side.

Free, unbiased help choosing a Medicare plan

Medicare has more moving parts than most people expect: Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Part D drug coverage, and Medigap supplements all interact differently depending on your health needs and budget. Pennsylvania runs a free counseling program built specifically to walk through this with you, with no products to sell.

• APPRISE. Pennsylvania's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) gives free, unbiased, one-on-one Medicare counseling. In Philadelphia, reach APPRISE through the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging at 215-765-9040, or statewide at 1-800-783-7067. apprisepa.org
• Medicare.gov. Compare plans directly, check what's covered, and find in-network providers. medicare.gov
• 1-800-MEDICARE. Call 1-800-633-4227 for questions about an existing enrollment, a claim, or a specific benefit.

Broader support for older adults

• Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA). The city's Area Agency on Aging connects older adults and caregivers to home care, meals, transportation, senior centers, and the APPRISE counseling above, all in one place. Call 215-765-9040. pcacares.org
• Eldercare Locator. A free national service connecting older adults and families to local aging services anywhere in the country. Call 1-800-677-1116. eldercare.acl.gov

Other help while you get set up

• Dial 211 for help with housing, food, utilities, and other basic needs. 211.org
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988, any time, for a mental health crisis.
• Our full Trusted Resources page covers crisis lines, quitting smoking or drinking, and more, regardless of what insurance you carry.

Dr. Ash is a board-certified internal medicine physician at Fishtown Medicine in Philadelphia.