Medicare Premium To Rise Modestly

[Guy N]

Medicare has announced the "Part B" premium for 2017, and for most beneficiaries it's a modest increase. Next year's tiny Social Security cost-of-living increase means that about 70 percent of ...

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[JC]

So for those that have a part B start date prior to 01-01-2016 your premiums are going from $104.90 to $109 per month. For those that have a part B start date after 01-01-2016, those not collecting SSA, and those on Medicare and Medicaid your premiums are going from $121.80 to $134 per month.

In addition to the Medicare premiums going up Deductibles are also going up.
Part A deductible is increasing from $1288 to $1316 per benefit period
Part B decuctible is increasing from $166 to $183 per year

 

[MBSC]

So for those that have a part B start date prior to 01-01-2016 your premiums are going from $104.90 to $109 per month. For those that have a part B start date after 01-01-2016, those not collecting SSA, and those on Medicare and Medicaid your premiums are going from $121.80 to $134 per month.

For those currently paying $104.90, the 2017 premium will be a unique amount in the $109 ballpark. The actual amount will be $104.90 plus the 2017 SS COLA.

Those currently paying $121.80 and taking SS will pay a unique amount in the $126 ballpark. The actual premium will be $121.80 plus the SS COLA. New enrollees for 2017 and those not collecting SS will pay $134. These assume no income changes that trigger IRMAA.

 

[JC]

For those currently paying $104.90, the 2017 premium will be a unique amount in the $109 ballpark. The actual amount will be $104.90 plus the 2017 SS COLA.

Those currently paying $121.80 and taking SS will pay a unique amount in the $126 ballpark. The actual premium will be $121.80 plus the SS COLA. New enrollees for 2017 and those not collecting SS will pay $134. These assume no income changes that trigger IRMAA.

here is exactly what CMS has said:
https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaR...s/2016-Press-releases-items/2016-11-10-2.html

"On October 18, 2016, the Social Security Administration announced that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits will be 0.3 percent for 2017. Because of the low Social Security COLA, a statutory “hold harmless” provision designed to protect seniors, will largely prevent Part B premiums from increasing for about 70 percent of beneficiaries. Among this group, the average 2017 premium will be about $109.00, compared to $104.90 for the past four years.

For the remaining roughly 30 percent of beneficiaries, the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B will be $134.00 for 2017, a 10 percent increase from the 2016 premium of $121.80. Because of the “hold harmless” provision covering the other 70 percent of beneficiaries, premiums for the remaining 30 percent must cover most of the increase in Medicare costs for 2017 for all beneficiaries. This year, as in the past, the Secretary has exercised her statutory authority to mitigate projected premium increases for these beneficiaries, while continuing to maintain a prudent level of reserves to protect against unexpected costs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will work with Congress as it explores budget-neutral solutions to challenges created by the “hold harmless” provision."

 

[MBSC]

Those currently paying $121.80 and taking SS will pay a unique amount in the $126 ballpark. The actual premium will be $121.80 plus the SS COLA. New enrollees for 2017 and those not collecting SS will pay $134. These assume no income changes that trigger IRMAA.

A 2016 Medicare enrollee receiving SS (held harmless) has received their notice:

I turned 65 in September and applied for SS and Medicare. I started receiving SS last month and I do have the Medicare payment deducted from the SS payment.

I just got a letter from SS today saying my rate is increasing from $121.80 to $127.00. Interestingly, what that means for me is my SS check will be exactly the same for 2017 as it is now.

Reference: http://www.city-data.com/forum/46452896-post17.html

Plain english version of 2017 Part B premiums:

For 2017, the COLA will be 0.3 percent. Instead of seeing their Social Security benefits rise by this amount, most people who are held harmless will instead see that increase applied to higher Part B premiums.

The average amount of that increase will raise Part B premiums by an average of about 4 percent, from $104.90 to about $109.00 a month. Exact increases will be tied to a person’s actual Social Security benefits, so Part B premiums will be larger than $109 for high-income beneficiaries and lower for those with below-average benefits.

For people who had to pay $121.80 a month this year but are now held harmless for 2017, their premiums will also rise by an average of about 4 percent. Again, specific changes will be tied to their actual Social Security payments.

For people who are not held harmless in 2017, the standard monthly Part B premium will rise from $121.80 to $134.00.

Reference: http://www.getwhatsyours.org/medicare/

Technical version from the Federal Register:

Section 1839(f) of the Act, referred to as the “hold-harmless” provision, provides that if an individual is entitled to benefits under section 202 or 223 of the Act (the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit and the Disability Insurance Benefit, respectively) and has the Part B premium deducted from these benefit payments, the premium increase will be reduced, if necessary, to avoid causing a decrease in the individual's net monthly payment. This decrease in payment occurs if the increase in the individual's social security benefit due to the cost-of-living adjustment under section 215(i) of the Act is less than the increase in the premium. Specifically, the reduction in the premium amount applies if the individual is entitled to benefits under section 202 or 223 of the Act for November and December of a particular year and the individual's Part B premiums for December and the following January are deducted from the respective month's section 202 or 223 benefits. The “hold-harmless” provision does not apply to beneficiaries who are required to pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount.

A check for benefits under section 202 or 223 of the Act is received in the month following the month for which the benefits are due. The Part B premium that is deducted from a particular check is the Part B payment for the month in which the check is received. Therefore, a benefit check for November is not received until December, but has December's Part B premium deducted from it.

Generally, if a beneficiary qualifies for hold-harmless protection, the reduced premium for the individual for that January and for each of the succeeding 11 months is the greater of either—

*The monthly premium for January reduced as necessary to make the December monthly benefits, after the deduction of the Part B premium for January, at least equal to the preceding November's monthly benefits, after the deduction of the Part B premium for December; or
*The monthly premium for that individual for that December.

Reference: https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...rial-rates-premium-rate-and-annual-deductible