Medicare premiums to go up $5 in 2013

[dmdunca44]

Medicare premiums are going up $5 a month in 2013,

Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner said the new "Part B" premium for outpatient care will be $104.90 a month. In most cases, it's deducted directly from a beneficiary's monthly Social Security check. Currently the premium is $99.90 a month.

Medicare premiums going up $5 a month for 2013

[W2R]

And I'll just be starting Medicare including the free Part A, and the now $104.90 Part B, next June. I don't have SS yet and probably will not claim it by then, so in my case as in the case of many others, it will be not be paid from SS at all. I hope I can figure out how to set up automatic checking account deductions for it.

Oh well, guess it could be a lot worse (and probably will be before it's done).

Thanks for the info. I'll enter it into my spreadsheet.

[FANOFJESUS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R And I'll just be starting Medicare including the free Part A, and the now $104.90 Part B, next June. I don't have SS yet and probably will not claim it by then, so in my case as in the case of many others, it will be not be paid from SS at all. I hope I can figure out how to set up automatic checking account deductions for it. Oh well, guess it could be a lot worse (and probably will be before it's done). Thanks for the info. I'll enter it into my spreadsheet.

A person can claim Medicare before SS?

[REWahoo]

Yes. You can claim Medicare at age 65, regardless of whether or not you have claimed SS.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R And I'll just be starting Medicare including the free Part A, and the now $104.90 Part B, next June. I don't have SS yet and probably will not claim it by then, so in my case as in the case of many others, it will be not be paid from SS at all. I hope I can figure out how to set up automatic checking account deductions for it.

It's very easy. Your first monthly bill (that you'll pay by mailing them a check) will have a phone number on it. Call the number and tell them you want to set up automatic payments. They'll send you a form to fill out, which you'll return with your bank information.

After that, it's simply deducted from your account each month. Simple.

There is only one odd factor. Despite everything being automatic, they will still mail you a paper bill each month, with the wording on it that says it's not a bill and you don't have to pay it because you have automatic deduction. There is no way to stop these useless notices, but you can just ignore them.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmdunca44 Medicare premiums are going up $5 a month in 2013, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner said the new "Part B" premium for outpatient care will be $104.90 a month. In most cases, it's deducted directly from a beneficiary's monthly Social Security check. Currently the premium is $99.90 a month. Medicare premiums going up $5 a month for 2013

For completeness and because some may be affected the full set of part B premiums are:
109 up to 85 k gross income single 2x married 152 up to 107k 218 up to 160k 283 up to 213k and 349 above that. Similarly part D is means tested. It is interesting that a lot of the talking heads don't seem to realize this that medicare parts B and D are means tested.

[ls99]

$5.00 increase/mo? No sweat.

When I retired 5 years ago, my self paid health insurance was 415/mo. The last payment for October for the same coverage was 756 an change.

Starting this month I am on Medicare. My Medigap and Part D will be $515 Quarterly.

[BLS53]

A few years ago, I looked at the historical data concerning Part B increases, and figured it would be around $200 a month when I reached 65. Now I'm 60, and 5 years away, and I don't see it getting that high by then. The increases have slowed down the past few years. If you look back a decade or so, there was a bunch of double digit percentage increases in those years.

However, who knows what the next 5 years will bring.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLS53 A few years ago, I looked at the historical data concerning Part B increases, and figured it would be around $200 a month when I reached 65. Now I'm 60, and 5 years away, and I don't see it getting that high by then. The increases have slowed down the past few years. If you look back a decade or so, there was a bunch of double digit percentage increases in those years. However, who knows what the next 5 years will bring.

Actually the reason part B base premiums are so low that is that they now pay only 25% of the cost. It used to be 50% but congress let the amount decrease. So depending on when you looked you may well have been correct. I do expect the base to increase a bit as well as the income limits to decrease over time for the means testing.

[freetodream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R And I'll just be starting Medicare including the free Part A, and the now $104.90 Part B, next June. .

Silly question here: if you are married that would be per person if you are married or $104.90 x 2 correct?

[braumeister]

Correct. Medicare is on an individual basis. Each person normally enrolls separately when they turn 65.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rec7 A person can claim Medicare before SS?

Sure.

I start Medicare in six weeks, on Jan 1st (month I turn 65), but I won't claim SS till age 70 (primarily for the benefit of DW, assuming I pass first).

DW turns 65 in May (you are eligible on the first of the month you turn 65), but she won't claim SS till next year when she turns FRA age of 66.

Medicare sends you a quarterly bill to cover your part B. After you start your SS, they will deduct it from that source.

[marc515]

Are the part B premiums the same if you have them deducted from your checking account?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc515 Are the part B premiums the same if you have them deducted from your checking account?

Yes.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R And I'll just be starting Medicare including the free Part A, and the now $104.90 Part B, next June. I don't have SS yet and probably will not claim it by then, so in my case as in the case of many others, it will be not be paid from SS at all. ...

WARNING: THREAD DRIFT HERE. This is an interesting comment to me because it gets at the psychology of taking SS early rather then late. Suppose we have two people
A) Takes SS early and so the Medicare just comes out of a nice government check that floats in every month like clockwork. This person might say to themself "oh well, at least the health care is paid for without my having to dip into my portfolio".

B) Has chosen to defer SS so the Medicare can seem to come right off the top of their spending from the portfolio. This person might say to themself "guess I cannot spend quite as much this year as I have to take care of this Medicare check".

Now I'm not saying that W2R is thinking quite along the lines of the (B) case although I did note that unhappy face she posted . I do think that deferring SS can cause a defensive attitude towards saving that results in deferring spending until later years. Could be that the result is not quite enjoying the mid-60's retirement years as much as is possible.

Note, a totally rational approach would not go along the cases (A) and (B) above. But we are very much emotional creatures, even the most rational of us. Some of the case (A) or (B) thinking could be occurring at an unconscious level.

Anyway, just my musings. This year I decided to take SS and it's made me a lot happier emotionally. Rationally I might have been better off in later years to defer SS even longer. END OF THREAD DRIFT.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal A) Takes SS early and so the Medicare just comes out of a nice government check that floats in every month like clockwork. This person might say to themself "oh well, at least the health care is paid for without my having to dip into my portfolio". B) Has chosen to defer SS so the Medicare can seem to come right off the top of their spending from the portfolio. This person might say to themself "guess I cannot spend quite as much this year as I have to take care of this Medicare check".

It dosen't matter if you pay the premium from your SS or from your portfolio. It's still an expense that must be accounted for.

As for us? We would rather delay SS and have a much "nicer government check" in the future. Anyway if we filed earlier (say age 62), we would have a 30% reduction in SS for the rest of our lives (vs. FRA age benefit), plus I would not get 50% of DW's FRA SS (we're the same age) for age 66-69, which will start in just over a year.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rescueme It dosen't matter if you pay the premium from your SS or from your portfolio. It's still an expense that must be accounted for.

+1

Lsbcal, the emoticon was due to my insecurities about possibly forgetting to pay, or having the check lost in the mail, if I have to pay by hand. With something as important as Medicare that might have bad ramifications. However, that issue was addressed by braumeister who answered my post so hopefully I will just get the payments set up as automatic deductions from my checking account.

Plus, who likes to see expenses going up? Not me, anyway. In my case it is just the idea that bugs me because I can afford it. But just because I can, does not mean I am thrilled by an increase.

As for your concerns about the expense forcing an unhappily deprived lifestyle upon me in my 60's, let your heart be at peace. FIRECalc still gives me 100%, whether I am paying for Medicare Part B or not.

Besides, I am still on the fence about when to take SS. I keep vacillating...

[Lsbcal]

W2R, I was just using this as a soap box to discuss emotion versus rational feelings about $'s and SS. Sorry, probably shouldn't have mentioned it in respect to your post or your choices or this thread. It's really more about my struggles with what to do about SS and my emotional feelings versus rational analysis.

And yes, it doesn't matter whether one pays from Medicare premiums or any expenses from SS or the portfolio. That is certainly true from a rational perspective. But that was sort of what I was trying to discuss.

Maybe I'm not being clear on any of this.

[W2R]

These choices get all muddied up with emotions sometimes, don't they? Having to essentially bet on the year of one's demise entails a lot of emotions for most of us. I try to remind myself that SS has great actuarial data so really, unless one knows what the future will bring, it probably does not matter much when we take SS.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc515 Are the part B premiums the same if you have them deducted from your checking account?

Here's the billing info from the Medicare site:

Ways to pay Part A & Part B premiums | Medicare.gov

Even though it dosen't mention paying from a personal account, I'll find out within the next 30+ days (I start Medicare on Jan 1 ), and will find out if there are any options to do so.