Medicare Part C fee-for-service plans don't restrict your choice of doctors to a specific network list, the way managed care plans do. With a fee-for-service plan, you can go to any doctor that participates in Medicare. And if your doctor refers you to a specialist, you don't need the fee-for-service plan's permission in order to get coverage. But Medicare Part C fee-for-service plans have significant restrictions of their own, which might make a Part C managed care plan better for you if your primary care physician and most other doctors in your area belong to that managed care plan.

Restrictions imposed by Medicare Part C for fee-for-service plans:

• For each medical service you want covered, the doctor or other provider must accept whatever limits the plan places on the treatment; and the doctor must agree to whatever payment the plan offers. If a doctor doesn't accept the plan's terms and payment amount, the plan won't cover your care from that doctor.
• Even though you've received covered care once, there's no guarantee that the next time the plan will approve the same care or offer the provider the same payment. Similarly, a doctor isn't required to accept the plan's terms again, just because he or she did so before. So, with a fee-for-service plan, you won't know until the time comes whether you'll be able to get covered care from a particular doctor or other provider.
• Some Medicare Part C fee-for-service plans require you to pay a co-payment of up to 15 percent of the amount the plan approves for the particular service.
• Some fee-for-service plans have provider networks, just as managed care plans do. With these plans, you're not restricted to network doctors or other providers, but you'll pay a higher co-payment if the provider isn't in the plan's network.