Medicare Bill Way Too High - Did this happen to you too

[savory]

Hi,

I got a couple of letters from Medicare in late November showing my payments for 2021. They looked right to me.

Then, I got the bill. It was about 5+ times the monthly payment shown in the November letter. I called Medicare twice. The first person was not much help. The second one forwarded the information to the department that rules on such things as she seem to think the 5+ bill did not make sense. They allow themselves 45 days for a response. That suggests they have lots of problems or not enough human support.

In the meantime, they sent me another letter that the automatic payment withdrawal failed because the amount was too high. I can' remember putting a limit on it but perhaps I did. And the due date is 12/25 but maybe this was some type of bank to bank test. Lucky break.

So, did I win the Medicare lottery as being the only person on the ER site this happened too? Or, are there others that shared my experience?

 

[MissMolly]

Is it possible your income is so high that you have gotten into the IRMAA tiers of additional premiums?

 

[savory]

Is it possible your income is so high that you have gotten into the IRMAA tiers of additional premiums?

Nor how I understand it. The charge was just under $1400 per month.

 

[Sunset]

Is this medicare part A or B or D ?
Or is it Medicare Advantage (which is really a private insurance plan) ?

 

[W2R]

So, did I win the Medicare lottery as being the only person on the ER site this happened too? Or, are there others that shared my experience?

I don't know yet! They told me it is going to be $148.50/month, to be deducted from my Social Security as it is paid, starting on January 13th.

 

[audreyh1]

In the meantime, they sent me another letter that the automatic payment withdrawal failed because the amount was too high. I can' remember putting a limit on it but perhaps I did. And the due date is 12/25 but maybe this was some type of bank to bank test. Lucky break.

So, did I win the Medicare lottery as being the only person on the ER site this happened too? Or, are there others that shared my experience?

Oh, man, a good reason not to use Easy Pay? Ouch!

Bank to bank test? How? That makes no sense.

 

[audreyh1]

Is it possible your income is so high that you have gotten into the IRMAA tiers of additional premiums?

Note that he received letters indicating what the payments would be, and what was actually billed was way higher. If he were subject to IRMAA that would have been spelled out in the letter.

 

[MichaelB]

When DW first started Medicare her billing was quarterly, and the first invoice included some retroactive amounts because of CMS delays in processing her enrollment. It took over half a year before the invoices matched the premiums.

 

[audreyh1]

When DW first started Medicare her billing was quarterly, and the first invoice included some retroactive amounts because of CMS delays in processing her enrollment. It took over half a year before the invoices matched the premiums.

Wow, glad that didn’t happen to DH! His initial bill was for three months of Part B. Then a couple of months later he got a bill for 3 months of Part D IRMAA. Then shortly after he started getting monthly bills combined Part B and Part D IRMAA, and it continued the same monthly bill with the new year increases.

 

[savory]

Is this medicare part A or B or D ?
Or is it Medicare Advantage (which is really a private insurance plan) ?

It's B & D. Perhaps they want more money upfront but the bill is for one month of January.

 

[savory]

Oh, man, a good reason not to use Easy Pay? Ouch!

Bank to bank test? How? That makes no sense.

You're right about the transfer. But, it worked great all of this year.

The other weird thing about their letter is I do not know how they know the money will not transfer. The bill is not due until the 25th. I really do not know how the system works. So perhaps they put in the amount at the bank with a future exchange date. But, if that is not how it works, it is even more confusing.

 

[Time2]

My bill is also a quarterly bill as others have said. If that was your bill, it would still only be $445.50. And if you hit IRMAA, I don't see it tripling. Ya, you need to get someone to solve that!

Just crazy that it could take 45 days for someone to spend 20 minutes fixing it.

 

[W2R]

I don't know yet! They told me it is going to be $148.50/month, to be deducted from my Social Security as it is paid, starting on January 13th.

Last night when I posted the above, I could not log in to the SS website because it was after hours. So, just now I went to www.ssa.gov , "Mysocialsecurity", and logged in. I discovered:

(1) a message sent 11/22 that contains a link to a PDF that stated my exact Medicare cost ($148.50/month) and my net SS that I will receive in January; and

(2) a separate statement that my net deposit on January 13th will be exactly as expected if $148.50 was the Medicare amount.

Whew!

My sympathies to the OP and I hope this gets straightened out for him right away.

 

[Animorph]

My monthly bill increased by $8.10, so no problem here.

I had a couple of problems with automatic payment so I ended up just using Fidelity BillPay. IIRC Medicare won't automatically take more the 2x the monthly amount, so that's probably why the 5x didn't go through. My initial autopay went unpaid because they hadn't set it up yet. My second autopay went unpaid because it was set up but was for two months so it wouldn't go through. After that I just paid with BillPay.

 

[audreyh1]

The bill is not due until the 25th. I really do not know how the system works. So perhaps they put in the amount at the bank with a future exchange date. But, if that is not how it works, it is even more confusing.

I don’t think you can set up a future “reserve the amount” ACH with a bank. Sounds pretty messed up.

 

[audreyh1]

IIRC Medicare won't automatically take more the 2x the monthly amount, so that's probably why the 5x didn't go through. My initial autopay went unpaid because they hadn't set it up yet. My second autopay went unpaid because it was set up but was for two months so it wouldn't go through. After that I just paid with BillPay.

Ah hah! It’s the Medicare system itself kicking it out.

 

[Philliefan33]

Medicare must be having issues.

My DH got a letter from SSA telling him that his payment was changing because of his recent work history (he continues to do a little contract work after FRA); the “new” amount at the bottom of the letter is $200 less than what he’s been getting for a year.

I convinced him to call SSA and when he finally gets through, they figure out that it’s because of Medicare Part D premium change. Except he does not have and has never had Part D.

I think they got it straight, as his check this month was $2 more than his previous amount. (I did say that he does “a little” contracting work,)