The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium will increase to $96.40 next year, up 3.1% from the current $93.50, Kerry Weems, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in a teleconference with reporters.
That amount will be paid by individuals with an annual income of $82,000 or less or couples with $160,000 or less a year, approximately 95% of all Medicare beneficiaries, according to the agency.
Next year, Part B premiums again will be tied to beneficiary income as required by the Medicare Modernization Act. As income goes up, so does the premium and the amount of increase. For example, beneficiaries in the top bracket (those with annual income of more than $205,000 or more than $410,000 for couples), the amount will increase to $238.40, by $77 or 48%, from this year's $161.40. The Part B deductible also will increase to $135 from the current $131.
The increases are a result of growth in certain areas of Medicare's fee-for-service program, including home health services and independent lab and physician-administered drugs, and in the Medicare Advantage program, as well as the need to increase contingency reserves in the Part B trust fund, Mr. Weems said.
Dr. Edward Langston, who is the chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees, expressed concern that government is cutting payment to doctors who care for the majority of Medicare patients who are in effect “helping subsidize overpayments to private insurance companies [providing Medicare Advantage plans], while only one in five Medicare patients participates,” he said in a statement.
The AMA is calling on Congress to eliminate overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans.
CMS also announced increases in the Medicare Part A deductible and in the premium for those who must “buy in” for coverage. Beneficiaries who have less than 30 quarters of coverage would have to pay $432, up $13 from the current $419. The Part A deductible, payable at first hospital admission, will increase to $1,024, up $32 from the current $992.