Happy New Year! As I do every new year, I wanted to post the key, new Medicare numbers that will be in effect for 2025. These are the key changes to Medicare’s premiums and coverages.
• Part A deductible – Will be $1676 up from $1632 (per 60 day Benefit Stay)
• Part B Deductible – Will be $257 up from $240 (Annual deductible)
• Part B Premium – Will be $185.00 up from $174.70 (for most people)
• Part D Maximum Deductible – Will be $590 up from $545 (Some plans don’t have a deductible and most have a “hybrid” deductible.)
• Part D Premium National Average – Will be $36.78 up from $34.70 (Is used to determine Part D Penalty)
The big change for 2025 is the new $2000 cap on drug costs. This does not include the cost of the plan. 2025 will have fewer Part D drug plans in most markets and with higher premiums as a result of the new exposure the cap will bring to insurance companies. This is why it is more important to check drug costs in Medicare’s comparison tool.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare, LLC specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent Anthem, Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Wellcare and SilverScript organizations which offer 67 Plans in your area (Richmond Metro 2025). Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE , or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
Tag Archives: affect on medicare beneficiaries
What is up With the Medicare Supplement Increases?
A lot of people with Medicare Supplement (aka Medigap) policies are getting renewal notices with large rate increases. Many are wondering why this is happening.
Supplements tend to have annual rate increases. In general, they are modest increases that take into consideration the increased risk to the carrier. That is primarily comprised of increasing medical inflation and increased risk due to a beneficiary’s higher age. This year has been different with significantly larger than normal rate increases. I recently attended a webinar on this topic to better understand what is happening to the industry. In short, we can blame it on Covid. During Covid, many of us avoided going to the doctor primarily to avoid contact with people in a frantic environment of fear. We even delayed getting medical treatment we knew we needed, to avoid the risk of contact. Then, after the height of Covid, we started going back to the doctor. This “pent up demand” increased medical utilization, resulting in costs that were much higher than normal. As a result, insurers needed to increase rates much more than normal this year.
The worst part is there isn’t much you can do about it. As most carriers are having to implement these increases, it is difficult to improve on your rate situation. Over the last few years, I have been placing my Supplement clients with insurers who have a history of stable rate increases. This alleviates the need to “shop around”. Even if there is an insurer who has a better rate (even if temporary), it is difficult to make the switch unless one is very healthy and can pass medical underwriting (in most states). The other choice is to switch to a completely different type of coverage called Medicare Advantage (aka Part C). This can normally only be done during Medicare’s annual enrollment period in the Fall.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions or need assistance with your choices in Medicare. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare, LLC specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent Anthem, Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Wellcare and SilverScript organizations which offer 67 Plans in your area (Richmond Metro 2024). Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE , or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
New 2024 Medicare Costs at a Glance
Happy New Year! As I do every new year, I wanted to post the key, new Medicare numbers that will be in effect for 2024. These are the key changes to Medicare’s premiums and coverages.
• Part A deductible – Will be $1632 up from $1600 (per 60 day Benefit Stay)
• Part B Deductible – Will be $240 up from $226 (Annual deductible)
• Part B Premium – Will be $174.70 up from $164.90 (for most people)
• Part D Maximum Deductible – Will be $545 up from $505 (Some plans don’t have a deductible and most have a “hybrid” deductible.)
• Part D Premium National Average – Will be $34.70 up from $31.50 (Is used to determine Part D Penalty)
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va. area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare, LLC specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
Medicare to Negotiate Part D Drug Prices
You may have seen the recent news that Medicare has announced the first 10 drugs they will begin negotiating drug prices directly with the drug manufacturers. While this sounds like good news, it has some limitations. Firstly, they won’t announce the prices until September 2024 and won’t be in effect until January 2026! That is a long time to wait and for only 10 drugs. But, I guess we have to start somewhere. Also, a recent improvement has already been introduced that caps many diabetic related drugs to $35. This has already had a big impact on drug costs for the millions of diabetics in the US. The other factor is that most people don’t know that drug prices are already being negotiated by the Part D drug plans (and PBM’s). These are some very large national companies with significant negotiation leverage. The way the government makes it sound is that there are no negotiations or competitive environments, allowing the drug manufacturers to charge whatever price they want. That is not the case. Because of the complications involved with drug pricing in today’s world, there are some who think we will be unpleasantly surprised by the outcome, or at least be underwhelmed. The biggest feature that will help people who have high Part D drug costs will be the $2000 out-of-pocket maximum that will be a part of Part D drug plans beginning in 2025. That is good news!
If you want to read more about the new Medicare drug negotiations, I have linked an article below:
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare is an independent insurance broker who specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent Anthem, Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Wellcare and SilverScript organizations which offer 58 Plans in your area (Richmond Metro). Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE , or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
Finally, CMS Fixes Late IEP Part B Request Effective Date Determinant
One thing I have complained about and blogged for a long time was CMS’ arcane formula for determining the Part B effective date for people who requested it during their IEP (Initial Enrollment Period) when first eligible for Medicare. The old system had multi month delays in Part B effective date if requested during the last 3 months of their initial 7-month IEP window (after their birthday month). It had a weird schedule of delayed effective dates and even eliminated one month from contention. Finally, they have fixed it with a common-sense approach. For someone making their request in the first 3 months of their IEP, it is still the first of their birthday month. But now, if they make their request in the last 3 months of their IEP (after their birthday month), the effective date will be the first of the following month. Very simple, easy to understand and common sense.
That is one less thing I now have to complain about and explain to clients. Am looking for a new demon, perhaps the Irmaa income surcharges. Nobody likes that. Oh well.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
New 2023 Medicare Costs at a Glance
Happy New Year! As I do every new year, I wanted to post the key, new Medicare numbers that will be in effect for 2023. These are the key changes to Medicare’s premiums and coverages.
- Part A deductible – Will be $1600 up from $1556 (per 60 day Benefit Stay)
- Part B Deductible – Will be $226, down from $233 (Annual deductible)
- Part B Premium – Will be $164.90, down from $170.10
- Part D Maximum Deductible – Will be $505, up from $480 (Some plans don’t have a deductible and most have a “hybrid” deductible.)
- Part D Premium National Average – Will be $31.50, down from $33.37 (Is used to determine Part D Penalty)
As previously blogged, the Part B premium and deductible decreased this year
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: dwhiggs@gmail.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
MEDICARE REDUCES COST OF PART B PREMIUM AND DEDUCTIBLE FOR 2023
As predicted a few months back, Medicare has just announced there will be a rare reduction in the Part B premium cost and the Part B deductible effective Jan 1st, 2023. The Part B premium will reduce from current $170.10 to $164.90 and the deductible from current $233/year to $226/year! While both of these factors tend to increase over time, some years they remain flat and are now seeing a reduction. As previously noted, one of the big reasons for the reduction is lower than expected Alzheimer drug costs to Medicare.
In addition, there is expected to be a larger than normal Social Security Cola increase. The combination of these factors will lead to larger than normal net increases in monthly income for most seniors.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, VA area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare, LLC specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: David@ChoicesInMedicare.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
2022 Medicare Part B Premium and Deductible Amounts Announced
Medicare finally announced the 2022 Part B costs late Friday afternoon. The key numbers are the monthly Premium and the annual Deductible. The Part B premium that most people pay will go up 14.5% from $148.50 to $170.10. (Higher income people must pay an income surcharge called, Irmaa. These amounts as well as the thresholds increased also.) The Part B deductible increased a similar percentage from $203 to $233.
These increases were more than projected just a couple of months ago. The primary drivers for these increases were medical inflation and potential coverage of a new, hi-cost Alzheimer drug. While these increases seem large, people on Social Security will still see a net increase due to the Hold Harmless provision that insures people’s Cola increase will cover the Medicare Part B premium increase.
As usual, I will post all of the key Medicare cost share amounts next month. If any questions about how these apply to you, contact me.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: David@ChoicesInMedicare.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
New 2021 Medicare Costs at a Glance
Happy New Year! As I do every new year, I wanted to post the key, new Medicare numbers that will be in effect for 2021. These are the key changes to Medicare’s premiums and coverages.
- Part A deductible – Will be $1484 up from $1408 (per 60 day Benefit Stay)
- Part B Deductible – Will be $203 up from $198 (Annual deductible)
- Part B Premium – Will be $148.50 up from $144.60
- Part D Maximum Deductible – Will be $445 up from $435 (Some plans don’t have a deductible and most have a “hybrid” deductible.)
- Part D Premium National Average – Will be $33.06 up from $32.74 (Is used to determine Part D Penalty)
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance with selecting a Medicare Plan. I don’t charge any fees nor increase your cost.
Based in the Richmond, Va area, David Higgs of Choices In Medicare specializes in helping seniors transition to Medicare. He can be reached at email: David@ChoicesInMedicare.com or go to website: www.ChoicesInMedicare.com
Medicare Part B Announcements and Open Enrollment (AEP) for 2021
Medicare has just announced the Part B costs for 2021. While these costs tend to go up over time, they don’t necessarily go up every year. Beginning January 1st, there will be a slight increase in the Part B Deductible from current $198 to $203. The standard Part B premium costs will go from current $144.60 to $148.50 per month for most people. I say most people because high income earners have to pay a surcharge depending on their tax return two years prior.
We are also in the Medicare Open Enrollment period (AEP) which will end December 7th. This affects people with Part D drug Plans (PDP) and Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) who may want to make a change. Medicare Supplement Plans are not subject to the AEP.
Any questions regarding these changes or any other Medicare related question can be directed to me at the contact info below.
If you have questions about your Choices in Medicare, please contact me at David@ChoicesInMedicare.com or go to www.ChoicesInMedicare.com