Medicare Basic 2010 Premiums Sport Asterisks
US News & World Report, October 23rd, 2009
The official 2010 Medicare premiums and deductibles for Part A
(hospital services) and Part B (doctor and non-hospital expenses) have
been released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS). It would be difficult to make up a scenario more confusing than
the one facing Medicare beneficiaries. Even CMS says it hopes some of
the announced rate changes never come to pass, and it supports a
Congressional proposal to avoid any increases in premiums next year for
these basic services covered by Medicare. Until Congress decides
otherwise, however, here is how 2010 looks:
Part A. In addition to inpatient hospital services,
Part A covers qualifying expenses in skilled nursing facilities,
hospice, and some home health services. People with at least 40
quarters of employment don't have to pay Part A premiums, and that's 99
percent of us. Everyone, however, faces deductibles. For 2010, they
will include $1,100 for a hospital stay, up $32 from $1,068 this year.
For longer hospital and nursing-home stays, beneficiaries must pay $275
a day for days 61 through 90 (up from $267 this year). If you need to
stay longer than 90 days, there is a lifetime reserve bank with 60
days. For these reserve days, the 2010 deductible is $550 per day, up
from $534 this year. Daily co-insurance for days 21 through 100 in a
skilled nursing home will be $137.50 in 2010, up from $133.50 in 2009.
(Medicare does not cover longer nursing-facility stays.)
Part B. In addition to physician services, Part B
covers qualifying out-patient hospital care, durable medical equipment,
and some other services. There's a Part B deductible, which is being
raised to $155 next year from $135 this year. But it's in the premium
calculations for 2010 that Part B gets very complicated.
There is a rule that Part B premiums for most people (73 percent of all
Medicare beneficiaries) can't rise by more than the rate of increase in
the annual COLA for Social Security recipients. In 2010, there is no
COLA because of low rates of inflation. So under this "hold harmless"
clause, the $96.40 monthly rate charged this year will stay the same in
2010. However, Medicare does need to raise its rates. That's because
another rule says that Part B premiums paid by beneficiaries must equal
at least 25 percent of total Part B expenses; the other 75 percent is
paid directly by the government. Because of continuing healthcare price
inflation, CMS must hike Part B premiums on the other 27 percent of
recipients to make sure the program continues to collect 25 percent of
its overall expenses in premiums.
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