Good News!
… About Increase in Medicare Part B Premiums for 2016!
Hello Toni:
I have recently enrolled in Medicare and have received my 2016 Medicare and You handbook. I have looked all through this book and cannot find what the 2016 Medicare Part A and B deductible or maximum out of pocket is? Can you provide me with an easy way to find these numbers? I really would not want to pay more than I have to.
~ Thank You, Sylvia from Kingwood
Hello Sylvia:
Every year the Medicare and You handbook is mailed out before October 1st to all Medicare beneficiaries to help guide them with the Medicare open enrollment period, which ends on Monday December 7th at midnight.
The handbook states that at the time of printing the 2016 Medicare and You Handbook the premiums and deductible amounts for Part A and Part B were not available. It just happens that on Tuesday, November 10, these numbers were released by the “Centers for Medicare and Medicaid” aka CMS (Medicare).
The Medicare Trustees had projected that Medicare Part B premiums for 2016, and deductible amounts, would increase by an unprecedented 52 percent over 2015 amounts, before the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74) was passed by Congress and signed into law on November 2, 2015.
As a result of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the Medicare Part B premiums for 2016 will be increasing for 30 percent of Part B enrollees, from $104.90 in 2015 to $121.80 in 2016 — a 16 percent increase, but far less than the increase initially projected by the Medicare actuaries.
The 70 percent (majority) of Part B Medicare enrollees who are protected by the hold-harmless provision, because they will not be receiving a cost of living increase in their Social Security check, will pay a Medicare Part B premiums for 2016 of $104.90, the same as in 2015 and no premium surcharge. Medicare Part B premiums for 2016 are based on income and the more you make, then the more you pay!
The new 2016 Medicare Parts A and B costs are below:
- Part A Costs (Inpatient Hospital): The new 2016 Part A inpatient hospital deductible will be an increase of $28.00 to $1,288.00. Remember the Part A deductible starts over every 60 days. It is not a once a year deductible. Under Part A is also Medicare Skilled Nursing for 2016 your costs will be days 1-20 $0 co pay per day and days 21- 100 will be $161.00 per day.
- Part B Costs (Medical): The new 2016 Part B medical/doctor deductible will increase from $147.00 in 2015 to $166.00 in 2016. Most Medicare beneficiaries will have a $104.90 monthly premium, but some on Medicare whose income is more than $85,001.00 for an individual or $170,001.00 for a couple will pay more than $104.90.
- Part D Costs (Prescription Drug Plan): The new 2016 Part D changes are the deductible is $360.00 once a year. You will pay your share for your prescription drugs until the combined amount reaches $3,310.00 and then you have reached the famous donut hole. When you have reached the donut hole, then you will pay 45% for your prescription drug plan’s cost for “covered” brand name drugs and 58% for the plan’s cost for “covered” generic drugs until a total of $4,850.00 has been spent out-of-pocket for the year. Once that amount has been spent, then you will enter catastrophic coverage and will pay a small coinsurance or copayment for each “covered” drug.
Visit Tonisays.com to receive your copy of the 2016 Medicare costs and to sign up for the latest Toni Says newsletter or visit Medicare and view costs www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs.
Toni King is the author of the Medicare Survival Guide®, which is on sale HERE. For a personal consultation, please contact Toni at Ask Toni. Tonisays.com is expanding in January with Medicare Peace University. Visit Medicare Peace University for more information.
