What insurance is accepted at Mayo Clinic?

@teresamason Do call the billing department and talk with them. The Mayo Clinic billing department at Rochester can be reached at 844-416-0117. I am a little confused, I thought Medicare is a national program, is there a separate one for GA, too? Please do report your findings, it would be useful information for others who have the same questions but are too shy to ask!

@teresamason Per suggestion, call Billing and check.
In general, Mayo takes ORIGINAL/TRADITIONAL Medicare (Part A, B) but Mayo does not take Medicare ADVANTAGE (Part C).
Many providers have dropped the Medicare Advantage plans which are actually insurance companies taking over for Medicare. One needs to go to Advantage network of doctors and cannot chose or self-refer. Very hard to leave after and return to original Medicare because of the difficulty in finding an insurance company for the Medigap insurance that pays 20% Medicare pays.

@vic83 Hello, @vic83 You are mostly correct about the Medicare Advantage Plans that are sold by for profit insurance companies. When I went to Mayo for a septal myectomy, there was full cooperation between my not-for-profit Advantage Plan and the Mayo billing office. That insurance is what my former employer offers for its retirees. Much to my surprise, I was charged the $350 copay for my stay at St Mary's rather than the $800 out-of-network amount I expected to pay (there was no hospital in my network that does this surgery and me going to a COE was a top priority for my cardiologist). In fact, it states in the policy "worldwide coverage" when circumstances merit it. The total medical copays for Mayo came to about $450.00. People should call the billing office and discuss their unique situations.

@walkinggirl Plan situations can be hard to understand so a phone call to Mayo billing and confirmation from your insurance company is always recommended. I was referring to Medicare Advantage plans that a Senior buys INDEPENDENTLY, not the benefit plan one may have through their former employer.
I have friends with plans from former employers, and it is not always clear what is going on. One has to check every year to see if one's preferred doctor is still in their network because doctors can leave these networks. Or the company negotiates a different deal - I have family that now have copays when they have not had them for 20+ years - to keep the premium at the same price.
My Medgap plan is not cheap, but it goes wherever Medicare goes - and if they don't take Medicare then that would be a whole new discussion! So, I don't need to check networks, and I never see a bill. But as a sole "retail" customer I do not get special pricing!
Recent announcement from Mayo: As of January 1, 2026, Mayo Clinic will exit the network for most Medicare Advantage (MA) individual plans and Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNP) in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. This means that patients enrolled in these plans will no longer have in-network access to Mayo Clinic facilities. 2
Continued Access for Some Plans: Patients enrolled in employer-sponsored commercial plans and Medicare Advantage Group Retiree plans will still have access to Mayo Clinic.

@vic83 Very helpful information! It was unclear as to what kind of Medicare Advantage Plan you were referring to. I believe we are fortunate that the 2 not-for-profit Medicare Advantage Plans and a large number of other insurance choices in Upstate NY are accepted throughout the area except in a very few isolated situations. Never heard of people having to check networks and providers. My insurance provider changed in 2026; all I needed to do was edit that information on My Chart Patient Portal and show my new card at the pharmacy once. Personal circumstances dictates whether a lower premium and higher copay vs higher premium and lower copay is more desirable; older people and children generally receive more medical care. For every genre of insurance (Medicare parts, Advantage) there are different provisions depending on the organization and whatever state a subscriber lives in. We have such great healthcare in this country, it's the paying for it that is an embarrassment. I could get political, but this is not the place to do so other than everyone deserves quality health care that is both affordable and easily accessible.

@walkinggirl Yes, your situation is different, it is not the norm. And, this is not the place to be political....but one can be logical
If we agree on the goal that affordable quality healthcare should be available to everyone, then it is simply a matter of analyzing proposed solutions.
I worked and had healthcare insurance from my employer. My original Medicare + Medigap policy is superior to my employer. Under my employer, I got charged a premium, had a deductible and they chose the plan, it had a network and it was very confusing. I would go to the doctor, the doctor would send in the bill to insurance, the insurance would process and then pay ME (not the doctor) and I would then pay the doctor. So I had to keep track that claim was processed, payments came in to me and then send a check to my doctor. (I had an analytical job so I found this ridiculous). NOW RETIRED, I just pay my insurance Part B (deducted from Social Security) and Medigap policy (automatic payment set up) and I never see a bill and I can self-refer wherever I want.
I think people need coverage NOT choice so I would put everyone on an original Medicare plan that one can take with one from employer to employer. Insurance companies add no benefit to healthcare, just cost because of the added layers of complexity-advertising, different types of policy, negotiating every year - for no purpose. I also wonder why Medicare doesn't offer an optional Medigap policy for the 20% it doesn't cover. Let Medicare make a profit instead of the insurance company. Also, data shows that Medicare is more cost effective than insurance companies. It pays out a higher percent of premiums in benefits than insurance companies.

@vic83

Back on 11/04/25 I had a hips and pelvic MRI with contrast. Mayo billed Medicare $4729 for the service. I don't know if that included the Radiologist as I don't currently see a separate billing for them. Medicare thought that they deserved just $284 for the service. I'd posit that almost any employer sponsored plan would have paid considerably more than that. I don't know what my supplement policy paid, but it likely wasn't much.

I've never been turned down for MC, but I can see why a doctor might do that.

FWIW I pay $398 [MC pt B and supplement] in premiums. Mayo couldn't stay in business if all they saw were MC patients and neither could any other medical facility.

@bajjerfan Yes, if you check on the Medicare site, you can see the "full" claim charge and then what Medicare pays which is a much smaller amount. Private insurers do pay more for the same service but still much lower than the "retail" billed amount. It is up to Congress to increase what Medicare can pay. One thing to note, is that the charge by healthcare provider is extremely high. I have read that nobody knows why providers charge the exaggerated amount, just our system. Medicare however offers the provider access to a high number of patients which increases their revenue. In marketing, a product is given a price to promote highest volume in sales, because that produces a higher total profit for the company - higher unit price does not mean higher total profit for the company.
Before Medicare, many Seniors could not afford/find health insurance and just died. Private insurers may pay more but they are well known for requiring approval for a procedure and delaying things. And a research institution like Mayo needs patients with interesting issues. There is a reason to be "not for profit"

@vic83

For most services there is what's called UCR usual customary and reasonable charges for billing out those services. I don't know how strictly Mayo or any other provider adheres to that. IIRC they vary somewhat by area. Charges in excess of UCR are probably excluded by the insurer. Mine was supposed to be MRI with 3D rendering which is why it comes out higher, but I can't vouch for that. In my experience MC pays a lot higher percentage for an office call than other services from what I've seen from my EOBs.

Mayo or any other medical service would not survive very long if all they saw were MC patients. That's one reason so many rural hopitals are struggling or going under: MC doesn't reimburse at a high enough rate. Also a main reason why IMO a MC for all type national coverage could never fly. YMMV.

@vic83 It's definitely too confusing for most people. I don't like how your claim had to be processed with your former employer's plan. My card is on file, the billing people do the billing and I get a copay bill usually $10 after it's processed. Everyone has a different story about their insurance for sure. Now, how do we banish the insurance company lobbiests?