Feds may act to stop big rise in Medicare premiums

Original Medicare typically has a monthly premium between $100 and $335, depending on yearly income, and $150 deductible for Part B benefits.

You can get a few hands-on help Tuesday at the Wyandanch Public Library. “Older adults and people with disabilities can not shoulder these unprecedented increases”, Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, told The New York Times.

On the other hand greater than two-thirds of the people will not be paying any premium increase at all. This state program provides help with other Medicare costs.

After including rebates, brand-name drugs cost Medicare Part D 198% of the median costs for the same brand-name drugs in the 31 OECD countries.

Pelosi had urged Boehner to include the funding in the short-term continuing resolution approved late last month that will keep the government operating through December 11, according to a source.

On their web page is a copy of the joint letter that 70 organizations, including NARFE, have sent to congressional leaders asking for protection of those not now held harmless by the Social Security rules.

“Nine U.S. Senate Democrats, including Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey Jr., introduced legislation Wednesday that would prevent an expected hike of more than 50 percent in Medicare Part B premiums for those who turn 65 in 2016”. It appears that there will be no rise in Social Security benefits due to a flat CPI on which the cost of living adjustment is based. Under the law, those who have their Part B premiums deducted from Social Security can not be subject to a premium increase.

We have a health care system that would not have been adequate in Revolutionary Era America. You also have to look at copayments and deductibles to put together a total-cost estimate over the course of the year.

Just go to Medicare’s Plan Finder Tool at medicare.gov/find-a-plan and type in your zip code or your personal information, enter in how you now receive your Medicare coverage, select the drugs you take and their dosages and choose the pharmacies you use.

A zero COLA also has implications for the premiums that retirees pay for Medicare Part B, which covers physicians’ services, preventative care, lab tests, and the like. In 2010, when hold-harmless provision kept Medicare premiums constant for most, new enrollees faced premiums about 15 percent higher than the existing beneficiaries. The non-profit Pro Seniors and its fraud-fighting Ohio Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) will be present at the Check-Up Day events to encourage people on Medicare to protect their Medicare card, and explain how to detect fraudulent behavior and report issues to the SMP. The free seminar, “The A, B, C and D’s of Medicare”, begins at 7 p.m. For more information, call 631-643-4848.

High – income beneficiaries (defined as those making more than $85, 000 per person or $170, 000 per couple) account for about 5 percent of all beneficiaries.

But 30 percent are not protected from higher premiums. How much does it all cost?

Advocates for price reductions argue that reductions in Part D prices would produce significant savings for the Medicare program itself and reduce beneficiary premiums, thereby aligning Medicare Part D with these other programs.