“Medicare Part B Premiums Rise 7% In 2020, With Premiums For Highest-Income Couples Nearing $12,000 A Year,” by Ashlea Ebeling, Forbes

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced Medicare Part B premiums for 2020, and the base premium increases nearly 7% from $135.50 a month to $144.60 a month. That $9.10 monthly increase compares to a modest $1.50 monthly increase last year. Meanwhile high earners are still getting used to income-related surcharges that kicked into higher gear in 2018, and those have been bumped up again too. The wealthiest senior couples will be paying nearly $12,000 a year in Medicare Part B premiums. Part B (the base and the surcharge) covers doctors’ and outpatient services. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $198 in 2020, an increase of $13 from the annual deductible of $185 in 2019. What’s to blame for the bigger increases this year? Rising spending on physician-administered drugs, according to CMS.”

 

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

Evidently the opioid crisis is costly in more ways than one.