Medicare Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
50 free Medicare trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free Medicare trivia questions with answers. Medicare covers about 65 million Americans, and almost everyone who reaches 65 has to learn its alphabet of Parts A, B, C and D. This Medicare trivia quiz is for senior centres, insurance-agent events, retirement parties and anyone who wants to test how well they really understand the program. It covers the history: Eisenhower's conference on ageing, Lyndon Johnson signing the law at the Truman Library in 1965 with Harry and Bess Truman as the first enrollees, the 1972 disability expansion, the 1997 arrival of Part C and the 2006 launch of Part D. It covers the rules: who is eligible, what each part pays for, how the payroll tax works, hospital days and lifetime reserve days, the Two-Midnight Rule, late enrollment penalties, Medigap plans and what Medicare does not cover. And it covers the numbers, from premiums and deductibles to the size of the program. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on Medicare in the United States. Dollar figures are the ones current for the year stated in the question.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which country revived its public health scheme in 1984 as Medicare?
Australia
Australia launched the scheme as Medibank in 1975, saw the next government cut it back, and restored it in 1984 under the name Medicare, covering everyone rather than only older people.
Q 02Which president signed Medicare into law?
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson signed it after his 1964 landslide added dozens of pro-Medicare votes in Congress and settled the issue.
Q 03Who received the very first Medicare card at the 1965 signing ceremony?
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was honoured for his failed push, as president, for national health insurance; he and his wife Bess received the first cards.
Q 04In which Missouri city was the Medicare law signed?
Independence
Independence hosted the signing; before Medicare, older Americans often couldn't get affordable coverage because private insurers saw them as a bad risk.
Q 05Which group ran Operation Coffee Cup, a 1961 campaign against health insurance for the elderly?
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association's campaign used coffee gatherings to get acquaintances writing letters to Congress against the plan that became Medicare.
Q 06Which phrase did Sarah Palin use in 2009 to attack paying doctors for Medicare end-of-life counseling?
Death panels
Death panels was named PolitiFact's 2009 Lie of the Year, because the proposal only paid doctors for voluntary talks about living wills and end-of-life options.
Q 07What is Medicare Part C better known as?
Advantage plans
Advantage plans are run by private companies and may make members use a provider network and get a referral before seeing a specialist.
Q 08What does Medicare Part D cover?
Self-administered prescription drugs
Self-administered prescription drugs are covered through private plans, some of which make patients try cheaper generics before paying for pricier brands.
Q 09What nickname did Medicare Part D's coverage gap earn?
Donut hole
The donut hole was phased out after 2010 as drug makers were required to discount brand-name medicines for enrollees in that phase.
Q 10Which senator has sponsored the Senate's Medicare for All Act since 2017?
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders introduced it in 2017 to put all US residents on one national health insurance plan covering hospital care, drugs, and dental and vision care.
Q 11Which medicine has Medicare capped at $35 for a month's supply since 2023?
Insulin
Insulin's cap came in the same 2022 law that made adult vaccines covered under Part D free and put a yearly limit on Part D drug costs.
Q 12Which workers must pay both halves of the Medicare payroll tax?
Self-employed workers
Self-employed workers pay the full 2.9 percent, but unlike wage earners they may deduct the employer-equivalent half when working out their income tax.
Q 13Medicare became law as part of which presidential reform program?
Great Society
The Great Society aimed to end poverty and racial injustice, so it paired Medicare with federal school aid and new civil and voting rights laws.
Q 21What does Medicare publish yearly to show private plans' quality?
Star ratings
Star ratings run from one to five, and a private health plan that earns at least four stars collects bonus payments from the government.
Q 22Under Medicare Part B, what is the patient's 20 percent share of an approved bill called?
Coinsurance
Coinsurance applies once the yearly Part B deductible has been met, yet many preventive services, such as screening mammograms, cost the patient nothing at all.
Q 23Which items does Medicare Part B cover as durable medical equipment?
Walkers and wheelchairs
Q 14Which future Florida governor ran the hospital chain Columbia/HCA until a 1997 Medicare fraud investigation?
Rick Scott
Rick Scott left as chief executive amid the inquiry, and the company later paid $1.7 billion, at the time the largest health care fraud recovery in US history.
Q 15Whose 2011 House budget would have given future retirees payments to buy private insurance instead of Medicare?
Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan's plan kept traditional Medicare for people 55 or older, so PolitiFact named the claim that Republicans 'voted to end Medicare' its 2011 Lie of the Year.
Q 16What does a patient pay after Medicare's hospital days run out?
All costs
All costs land on the patient after day 150, because the 60 lifetime reserve days that follow day 90 can each be used only once in a lifetime.
Q 17What does Medicare call the span that ends after 60 days without hospital or nursing-facility care?
Benefit period
A benefit period isn't a calendar year, so a patient admitted to hospital in separate spells can owe the Part A deductible more than once a year.
Q 18What does Medicare's 'Two-Midnight Rule' decide?
Whether a stay counts as inpatient
Whether a stay counts as inpatient turns on whether hospital care is expected to cross two midnights; outpatients, even overnight, generally owe a copayment per service.
Q 19What must come before Medicare covers skilled nursing facility care?
A three-day inpatient stay
A three-day inpatient stay can't include time under observation or in the emergency room before admission, even overnight, so some patients who stayed nights miss out.
Q 20What do Medicare patients usually give up to choose hospice?
Treatment to cure the illness
Treatment to cure the illness is no longer covered, but patients have the right to stop hospice care at any time and go back to seeking a cure.
Walkers and wheelchairs qualify because they withstand repeated use, serve a medical purpose and suit the home, the tests Medicare's rule sets for durable equipment.
Q 24Which coverage lets someone delay Medicare Part B past 65 without a late penalty?
A current employer's plan
A current employer's plan earns an eight-month window to sign up once the job ends, but COBRA, retiree plans and veterans' care don't count, and the penalty lasts as long as Part B does.
Q 25In which season can anyone with Medicare join, switch or drop a plan during annual open enrollment?
Fall
Fall is the season, from October 15 to December 7, because private plans can change their costs and coverage from one year to the next; any switch starts on January 1.
Q 26What must every Part C plan include that Original Medicare lacks?
An annual out-of-pocket spending limit
An annual out-of-pocket spending limit is required of every Part C plan, whereas Original Medicare's 20 percent share of doctor bills has no ceiling however large the bills grow.
Q 27What is the common name for private supplemental insurance that pays costs Original Medicare leaves to the patient?
Medigap
Medigap policies are standardised by letter, so a Plan G from one insurer covers exactly what a Plan G from any other does, and buyers can compare on price alone.
Q 28Which Super Bowl-winning quarterback became the TV pitchman for the Medicare Coverage Helpline?
Joe Namath
Joe Namath's ads came from a private insurance marketer, not the government, and a Senate committee report cited the campaign as an example of misleading Medicare marketing.
Q 29Which type of care is excluded from every part of Medicare?
Long-term custodial care
Long-term custodial care, meaning help with bathing, dressing and eating, is excluded because it isn't medical, even for someone who needs it in a nursing home for years.
Q 30In 1972 Medicare was expanded to younger people with disabilities and to patients with which condition?
End-stage renal disease
End-stage renal disease won coverage after a patient was dialysed in front of the House Ways and Means Committee in 1971; kidney failure now qualifies people for Medicare at any age.