[Kansas58]

I don't wish to argue with you, but I am in the Social Security and Medicare BUSINESS!

Even if your Part D plan costs the average or middle income client ZERO dollars (yes that is possible with a Medicare Advantage Plan) -— those how make more than $213,000 (Individually) will now pay $66.40 PER MONTH for the same Part D Prescription drug plan.

That same person will pay $349.00 for Part B of Medicare.

This is a total of $415.40 PER MONTH for Medicare services for the top brackets.

I am telling you that there is NO limit on what Congress will charge, for Part D and Part B services, in the future, for the upper income groups.

Again, this is my business, but if you want to check my work go to Medicare.gov, all the tables are there for you.

[kabar]

I am telling you that there is NO limit on what Congress will charge, for Part D and Part B services, in the future, for the upper income groups.

I understand how they are changing the premiums for Medicare Parts B and D. I am on Medicare. But even raising the rates on those who are 65 and older and make more than $213,000 (individual) a year will cover just a small part of the total costs. Here are the 2013 rates. There are very few seniors making that level of income.

What you appear to be missing is that the premiums for these programs only cover 25% of the total costs. The rest of the costs must be funded by the General Fund. From the 2012 Trustees Report:

The Trustees project that Part B of Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI), which pays doctors’ bills and other outpatient expenses, and Part D, which provides access to prescription drug coverage, will remain adequately financed into the indefinite future because current law automatically provides financing each year to meet the next year’s expected costs. However, the aging population and rising health care costs cause SMI projected costs to grow rapidly from 2.0 percent of GDP in 2011 to approximately 3.4 percent of GDP in 2035, and then more slowly to 4.0 percent of GDP by 2086. General revenues will finance roughly three quarters of these costs, and premiums paid by beneficiaries almost all of the remaining quarter. SMI also receives a small amount of financing from special payments by States and from fees on manufacturers and importers of brand-name prescription drugs.

If you go to the table showing what were the sources of income to the Trust Funds in 2011, you will see that SMI (Medicare Parts B and D) received $222 billion from the General Fund and $65.4 billion from premiums. These costs will continue to rise as 10,000 people a day retire every day for the next 20 years. And Medicare will eventually consume the entire federal budget if not reformed.

Yes, the USG has been gradually changing the premium structure for Medicare Parts B and D since I started on the program five years ago. It is becoming more of a means tested program, but it has been under the radar since very few people are affected by the fee structure. It is worth remembering that one-third of retirees depend on SS as their sole source of income and for two-thirds of retirees, it is more than 50% of their retirement income. The vast majority of people will pay $104.90 for Medicare Part B in 2013.

I would also note that 9 out of every 10 Medicare recipients pay for supplementary insurance or Medigap.