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Sunday, September 05, 2004Monthly payments for Part B of the government health care program for older and disabled Americans -- doctor visits and most other non-hospital expenses -- will jump to $78.20 from $66.60, a 17 percent increase, the administration said Friday. The premiums are updated annually under a formula set by law. The federal government picks up about 75 percent of the cost of Part B benefits and beneficiaries pay the rest. In addition, the deductible for Part B services will rise $10 next year, to $110, another change mandated by the Medicare law. About 93 percent of Medicare's 41.8 million beneficiaries are enrolled in Part B, which helps pay for physician services, hospital outpatient care, durable medical equipment and other services, including some home health care. What the stories don't make clear is that there are two parts to Medicare - Parts A and B. Part A is like catastrophic healthcare coverage - it covers hospitalizations, surgeries, and nursing home care (for sixty days). The deductible for that will be $912, a $36 increase. Not bad for services that can easily come in at several thousand dollars. Part B is like supplemental insurance. It covers outpatient services like doctor's visits. Seventy-eight dollars a month and a $110 deductible is still a good price - far below market value for health insurance, especially for such a high risk group as the elderly. Instead of whining that the elderly are getting soaked by the Medicare increases, perhaps the Democrats should suggest that deductibles and premiums be means-tested. But then, that would actually mean reforming Medicare, which no one in Washington has the courage to do. posted by Sydney on 9/05/2004 12:52:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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