2017 Medicare Premiums increases are being projected, Be Prepared!

As some folks may face a 20% increase in Part B premiums for 2017 pending an intervention by Congress this fall to prevent this. Late June the Medicare Trustees to Congress’s annual report for the financial state of this program. While the trigger of this increase being complex in increasing Part B costs covering doctors’ visits and other types of care for outpatients. Part of the problem is due to the law which prevented increases for 2016 most people who are collecting Social Security Benefits and have Medicare. This is a large contributing aspect for the increases to come.

Congress may look at these increases and see them to be too substantial and could move to limit the increase particularly in an election year. Increases of similar magnitude and more may be affecting wealthier people with Medicare as well. Couples who earn more than $170,000 per year or individuals who earn more than $85,000 a year which is about 6% of the population all pay a significantly higher premium then everyone else in premiums for Medicare.

People are notified for Medicare Part B premium changes affecting the following year come fall which is prior to Medicare Open Enrollment come November and December of 2016.

Baby boomers are a large part of the cause for increases in all the Medicare costs which include Part B. These continue to trend upwards as more and more baby boomers will enter the program then healthcare costs once again will go up.

Projections are said to rise from 57 million today up to as high as 73 million in 2025 as baby boomers are entering this market at a rate of 10,000 per day. This will cause Medicare hospital trust fund which is the Part A of the program to be projected as insolvent by the year 2028 which is approximately 2 years prior to the projections of last year by the Trustees.  These are all indications that Medicare will still need to be addressed by additional legislation and hopefully soon than later in hopes to reduce the impact to all beneficiaries, tax payers, and the providers.