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

Recent Study on Medicare Advantage Plan Hospital Costs

A recent study was released on average costs for hospital stays for people in a Medicare Advantage plan.  Some of the comments in the article might make someone fear getting a Medicare Advantage plan the way the hospital costs are explained.  In short, these plans are good for people who are relatively healthy, whose doctor participates in the plan’s network and enjoy the low premium costs ($0 in some cases).  While there is a cap on costs called an Out-of-Pocket-Maximum, some people could hit the caps which range from around $3500 to $6700.  Supplements are a good alternative for people concerned about networks and out of pocket costs, but will pay a higher premium.  A link to the article is listed below.

If you have questions about Medicare, contact David Higgs at ChoicesInMedicare.com

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/06/11/some-medicare-advantage-plans-raising-hospital-nursing-care-copays

Part D Drug Plan Penalty

In helping seniors select a Part D Drug plan (PDP), I find a lot of people are confused about the Part D Penalty.  In short, it is a penalty for those that don’t elect a PDP when they are eligible and don’t have other Creditable Drug coverage.  While Medicare will not require anyone to enroll in a PDP, they will assess a penalty of 1% for every month they didn’t have coverage.

For more info on what the penalty is and how it works, you can go to the link below that explains in more detail at Medicare.gov.

http://www.medicare.gov/part-d/costs/penalty/part-d-late-enrollment-penalty.html

For questions about selecting a Medicare Plan, call David Higgs at 804-972-4997 or email: David@ChoicesInMedicare.com.

 

Medicare Coverage Helps with Preventive Care

While Medicare offers great options for more comprehensive coverages, Preventive care is one that is often overlooked.  Prevention is the best way to insure overall health.  Medicare has 2 categories of Preventive care:  “New to Medicare” and Yearly “Wellness” Visit.  To learn more about these types of services, you can go to the link listed below.

http://www.medicare.gov/coverage/preventive-visit-and-yearly-wellness-exams.html

How Difficult is it for Medicare Beneficiaries to Find a Doctor?

One of the more common questions I get from my Medicare Plan clients is regarding their ability to find a doctor who accepts Medicare.  For those that elect Original Medicare and may have a Medicare Supplement, the answer is good news.  Even though there are many news reports that make it seem like doctors are not accepting Medicare, I found data that shows that 91% of doctors accept new Medicare patients on a national average.  I find that it is even higher for patients who continue to see their current doctor.  The data showed that only about 1% of doctors have “opted out” of Medicare.  I searched the internet and the best data I could find was from an article about a year and a half ago that used data collected in 2012.  I will try to keep my clients updated as new data is made available.  If you want to read more about the study, click on the link below.

http://kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-patients-access-to-physicians-a-synthesis-of-the-evidence/

Don’t Be Bashful Asking Doc About Lower Cost Drugs

The federal government recently released data showing the top drugs and drug costs for Medicare Part D drug plan members.  Not surprisingly, brand name drugs lead the list.  The result is a big portion of the total drug costs go to a few name brand drugs that have generic equivalents.  What does this mean to you?  Ask your doctor if there are generic alternatives that you could use.  It could save you a lot of money.

For more details, go to the article linked below.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/05/01/403506160/brand-name-medicines-dominate-medicares-103-billion-drug-bill

Medicare Finally To Stop Using Social Security Numbers as ID

You may have heard about the new Medicare “Doc Fix” bill.  You may not have heard they included a change to Medicare Claim numbers.  In short, they will eventually stop using the Social Security number as the key Medicare ID number.  This change will take up to 4 years to change newly issued cards and up to 8 years to replace existing member cards.  This will be a good change.  Read more about it by clicking the link to the article below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/21/us/new-law-to-strip-social-security-numbers-from-medicare-cards.html?ref=topics&_r=0

It Is OK to Ask Questions About Medical Procedures

According to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, there are a lot of tests being done that may not be necessary.  If you are healthy, they may not be necessary.  Take a look at the article linked below to read more.  David.

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/study-needless-tests-given-to-medicare-cataract-patients/