Monthly Archives: July 2015

Possible Increase in Medicare Part B Premium Costs

Medicare will be 50 years old this month and Medicare’s Board of Trustees released a report this week that among other things, indicated a possible significant increase in Medicare Part B Premiums beginning next year.  While this increase would potentially affect only about 30% of beneficiaries, it could be significant.  Part B premium increases are common but usually small.  The potential increase would primarily affect new beneficiaries and higher income beneficiaries.  The head of Medicare will make a final decision this October.  The report also reported that the Hospital fund is expected to be solvent until about 2030.  You can read more about the report in the article linked below.

If you have questions about Medicare, contact David Higgs of Choices In Medicare at www.ChoicesInMedicare.com.

http://khn.org/news/good-news-bad-news-in-medicare-trustees-report/

 

Medicare Testing New Bundled Payment Project

Medicare recently announced a new initiative for how they will pay providers for certain services.  They will try a Bundled Payment process for knee and hip replacements beginning in January in certain test markets.  In short, they will make a payment to cover the entire episode including rehab.  Then at the end of the year, they will make adjustments to increase or decrease payments based upon outcomes.  The goal is to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs at the same time.  More info is available in the article linked below.

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/article_6e28d914-ad76-5085-b1fb-d64d9f76b61c.html?_dc=135948543203.99463

If you have questions about Medicare Plans, contact us at ChoicesInMedicare.com