Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010121
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The government revealed the new deductibles and copayments on Wednesday.
The $5-a-month increase in Medicare Part B premiums for physicians' bills and other out-of-hospital expenses already was known; that 12.2 percent boost was set by law.
Those premiums will climb to $46.10 a month Jan. 1.
The Medicare hospital deductible will climb to $716 from $696 on New Year's Day. It is a one-time charge. Medicare pays all other approved charges for the first 60 days in the hospital.
Those hospitalized longer than that in 1995 will have to pay coinsurance of $179 a day for days 61-90. That is a $5 increase.
And for those who use up some of their 60 lifetime reserve hospital days, the co-insurance will be $358 per day, a $10 increase.
Medicare also covers the full cost of the first 20 days in skilled-nursing facilities for those recuperating from a serious illness. Beyond that, the co-insurance for days 21-100 will be $89.50 a day, up from $87.
Many Medicare beneficiaries buy extra private health insurance called Medigap coverage to cushion them from these out-of-pocket expenses.
Actuaries for the Health Care Financing Administration, which will publish the new charges in today's Federal Register, said 9.2 million people are expected to pay the $716 hospital deductible in 1995. It applies only once, no matter how many times someone is hospitalized.
In addition, beneficiaries will pay for 3.6 million days of co-insurance at $179 per day for hospital stays lasting more than 60 days, and they will use 1.6 million of their lifetime reserve days.
They will also pay co-insurance on 18.6 million extended-care days.
All told, the higher deductibles and premiums will cost the elderly and disabled $530 million, plus $2.15 billion for the higher monthly premiums.
But the elderly and the disabled also are getting a 2.8 percent increase in their January Social Security checks. That will mean an extra $19 a month for the average retiree, boosting the typical Social Security check to $698 a month.
Medicare, financed by a 1.45 percent payroll tax on workers and employers, remains an insurance bargain for its beneficiaries.
The government will charge $261 a month - $3,132 a year - for Medicare hospital insurance in 1995 for 277,000 elderly or disabled people who voluntarily buy the coverage. These people did not have enough work credits to qualify for Medicare automatically at age 65.
Taxpayers help subsidize much of Medicare Part B coverage. Without them, monthly premiums would have to be three times higher to cover all the doctor bills, outpatient services, diagnostic tests and other charges incurred by the 32 million elderly, 4 million disabled and 200,000 people with kidney failure.
by CNB