What Medicare Changes should you expect in 2020?
Medicare changes every year so be sure to keep an eye out for the changes! Part A and Part B are two very important pieces of Medicare. Okay so this week’s big question is will my Medicare benefits change in 2020 and the answer is yes! Medicare changes happen every year. Usually we get this information about this time of year from the government. We can determine what the change is so this is something that everybody on Medicare should pay close attention to. There are basically four key areas that we watch. The Part A premiums, which is usually zero for everyone for those that are not fully eligible for Medicare Part A they do have to pay premiums. We watch the Part B premium it is a little more important every year that premium typically goes up. This year it’s going from $135.50 to $144.30. Everybody on Medicare will get an increase in their Part B premium. This premium is deducted from your Social Security check so you’ll notice your check is a little bit smaller this year.
Cost of Living
At the same time, we get a cost-of-living increase that helps to offset those increases in premiums. Everyone we talked to just about
has a little trouble understanding this. So if you have questions give us a call and we can help explain this a bit more.
Medicare Part A and Part B
A is the part of Original Medicare that pays the hospital expenses, skilled nursing facility benefits and it pays hospice and blood deductibles. Part B is the part of Medicare that pays doctors. That is the premium that you end up paying. Again that is going to be $144.30 this year. The next thing we try and keep an eye on and try to inform our clients is the Part B deductible last year Part B deductible was $185 and that’s a calendar year deductible that you must meet before Medicare pays. So this year that Part B deductible is going up quite a bit to $197 it’s going to be just under $200 per year for your Part B deductible and everybody should know about that about this time of year so that you can make adjustments and understand what’s going on. I’ve been watching Medicare changes for 40 years and every year the last 40 years the Medicare has changed. Back then the price used to be $160 for the Part A deductible. Now it is $1,430. Also, the Part B deductible was $60, now it’s nearly $200.
Your Medicare changes every year!
Medicare benefits change every year. It’s a scary realization. But you look at it over the past 40 years the numbers have changed from something reasonable to something financially straining for some people. If you have a Medicare supplement the good news is those supplements a plan F or a plan G or a plan N. Those supplemental policies automatically adjust to these changes so you don’t have to do anything. It will change your plan automatically. Plan F pays everything for Part A and Part B that Medicare doesn’t pay including the deductibles and co-pay. Plan G is the plan that’s identical to plan F but Plan G does not pay the Part B deductible. We hope that this helps you. If you have questions give us a call at 1-888-446-9157.