|
For Most Beneficiaries, Premiums for Medicare Part B will Remain the Same in 2009; Part A Deductibles will Increase, CMS Reports (09/26/08)
Monthly Medicare Part B premiums for outpatient care will remain at 2008 levels -- $96.40 -- for most beneficiaries in 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced. Part B premiums will increase only for single beneficiaries with annual incomes exceeding $85,000 and couples with incomes above $170,000.
The Part B outpatient deductible will remain unchanged, at $135, next year. And deductibles for Medicare Part A, which covers the first 60 days of hospital care, will increase by $44 to $1,068 in 2009. Patients will be responsible for a daily co-payment of $267 per day for days 61-90 of a hospital stay, $534 per day for days 91-150, and all costs for each day beyond 150 days once the deductible is paid, according to CQ Healthbeat.
The monthly Part B premium covers a portion of the costs of physician services, outpatient hospital services, home health services, and durable medical equipment, among other things. Typically, Part B premiums increase at the same rate as average Part B expenditures from year to year. However, this is the first year since 2000 that there will be no increase in the standard premium from the preceding year.
Most Part B premiums will be unchanged for two reasons. First, $9.3 billion in hospice payments that were mistakenly taken from the Part B outpatient benefit fund between 2005 and 2007 have since been returned to Part B and will help offset premium increases, the Associated Press reports. In addition, Medicare has increased Part B premiums in recent years in order to build reserves to offset changes made to physician payments. This process is now complete. "It was painful to catch up, but now we have one year in which we can get rid of the catch-up amount and use that to offset the premium increases that otherwise would have happened," Richard Foster, head actuary for Medicare, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
In 2009, however, Part B expenditures for physician and outpatient hospital care, home health services, physician-administered drugs, ambulatory surgical center services, durable medical equipment, independent lab and physician's office lab services, are expected to grow. Spending on Medicare Advantage programs is also expected to increase. Higher costs typically necessitate premium hikes.
It's also unlikely that premiums will remain unchanged in 2010 because legislators will likely need to block a scheduled 20% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursement rates that year. "It is reasonably likely (lawmakers) won't let a 20% reduction in Medicare fees stand," Foster said. "Next year is going to be a little ugly, I'm afraid."
2009 MA and Part D Plan Enrollment Guidance – UPDATES (08/08/08)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing updates to the existing enrollment and disenrollment guidance for prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The CMS enrollment guidance documents are posted on the web at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/home/medicare.asp under the “Eligibility and Enrollment” heading.
The specific links for the revised guidance documents are as follows:
For PDP enrollment guidance and summary document, go to: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicarePresDrugEligEnrol/
For MA enrollment guidance and summary document, go to: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareMangCareEligEnrol/
Note: Once on the page, look for the file names which include the date “July 16, 2008” to ensure you select the correct links.
These guidance updates represent final CMS policy and are effective for contract year 2009, including all enrollments with an effective date on or after January 1, 2009. Please note that Special Election Period (SEP) additions and/or clarifications are effective immediately upon release of this new guidance.
|
