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Social Security & Medicare Q&A: Medicare Part B Premium Increased or Decreased for 2005?
Q: I was under the impression that the Medicare Part B premium for 2005 will be increased from $66.60 to $78.20, not from $100 to $110. Is this a misprint? A: The Medicare Part B premium for 2005 increased from $66.60 to $78.20. The increase of $100 to $110 refers to the Medicare Part B deductible that increased this year for the first time since 1991. The new Medicare drug law mandates that the Part B deductible now increase every year at the same rate as Medicare Part B premium. A new study by Advisor editor Mary Johnson found that if the Medicare Part B deductible increases at the average annual rate that the Medicare premium has grown over the past five years, 11.5%, the deductible will be more than $122 next year and more than $189 by 2010. In addition, if Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) continue to crawl along at the average annual rate of 2.5% as they have over the past five years, seniors with a benefit of $498 this year would have their annual COLA completely obliterated by rising Medicare Part B premium and deductible costs in just four years. Rising Medicare Costs Will Take a Bigger Chunk of Your Social Security Year Annual Medicare Part B Premium & Deductible Increase At 11.5% per year Annual COLA Increase At 2.5% per year 2005 $149.20 (actual) $157.20 (actual) 2006 $120.57 $149.40 2007 $134.43 $153.14 2008 $149.89 $156.96 2009* $167.13 $160.89 2010* $186.35 $164.91 While current law protects Social Security benefits from large increases in the Medicare premiums (see cover story “Check Your Social Security Check”) no provision protects benefits from the new Part B deductible increase. For more information about Medicare deductibles, co-payments and other costs, call 1-800-633-4227 or online at www.medicare.gov. January 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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