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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Nov 24, 2023 10:54:33 GMT -5
Last year the COLA for SS was almost 9%.
This year, 3.2% which from what I understand is less than the increase in Medicare premiums. WTF?
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Post by minx on Nov 26, 2023 12:11:51 GMT -5
This is what I don't get. While not a fan, I can see the SS COLA not going up a lot.
But why on earth would they raise Medicare premiums to a level above the COLA?
Let's say Medicare expenditures were up 4% last year. Fine, limit the COLA on SS to 3.2% so that increase in spending is covered.
And if expenditures are 6.5%, maybe eliminate the COLA for this upcoming year.
But don't say "Hey, you get a COLA this year", and then take it away by increasing premiums!
And I know the MAGA crowd would absolutely shit their pants, but I think that if you're on SSI or SSDI, you should get totally free Medicare, and it should include prescription coverage.
But what do I know...
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Nov 27, 2023 10:06:55 GMT -5
The least they could do is let Medicare recipients get their "part B" from the hc marketplace and use the same income metrics as they do for everyone else in determining the subsidy. As far as Rx coverage, they offer what they call "extra help" which for me was minimal and the only costs out of pocket were on certain medications that ran just a few bucks. The plan was just switched to AARP/UHC effective 1/1/2024.... which looks to be no cost to me for premiums, copays on anything I currently take.
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Post by minx on Nov 27, 2023 12:33:04 GMT -5
Oh. I thought you could get part B through the Medicare advantage shit and they had to cover standard B stuff at the same price (so they couldn't stiff your doctors). Is that not true?
Still a few years out, so have to start doing some research I guess.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Nov 27, 2023 13:32:07 GMT -5
I'm not entirely sure because I have both Medicaid and Medicare. My Medicare is only Part A and D (I get what they call "extra help" for the prescription coverage. So medicare covers my scripts now and I don't know which one will pay or what, for my ER visit last week.
I was under the impression that Part B, if you want it, was a standard deduction of around $300/mo from your SS, and THEN you could choose an advantage plan for no extra or some extra cost depending on what you choose, or you can just have the Medicare B that allows you to see any Dr anywhere anytime. Either way those aren't the same as going on Healthcare Marketplace where if I weren't on a government benefit, could pick plans based on price after the subsidy was figured in, which would be a hell of a lot less than $300/mo. We were paying $100 for both of us for a decent silver plan before medicaid was more or less required (to be applied for) based on my reported net income.
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