Did you know you are paying for artificially holding down the Medicare Part B premium?
“The standard monthly Part B premium rate for all enrollees for 2021 is $148.50, which is equal to 50 percent of the monthly actuarial rate for aged enrollees (or approximately 25 percent of the expected average total cost of Part B coverage for aged enrollees) plus the $3.00 repayment amount required under current law. (The 2020 standard premium rate was $144.60, which included the $3.00 repayment amount.) The Part B deductible for 2021 is $203.00 for all Part B beneficiaries. If a beneficiary has to pay an income-related monthly adjustment, he or she will have to pay a total monthly premium of about 35, 50, 65, 80 or 85 percent of the total cost of Part B coverage plus a repayment amount of $4.20, $6.00, $7.80, $9.60 or $10.20, respectively.” SOURCE: The Federal Register 11/12/20
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I dont understand why they even have to charge so much for Part B…Medicare is supposed to be for senior citizens..to be able to get health treatment.. and yet they take this much out?? Its not right.. Are they really raising it to 203 for 2021?? this will be wrong…I barely am able to live in $641..monthly..i have to take my rent from that..and if they raise it to 203..im screwed (sorry)….this needs to be stopped…why are they continuing to raise this.. senior citizens are already trying to eke out a living on what they get..stop taking away and start giving..where is the $200 extra per month Biden said he would do..???
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The Part B deductible is $203, not the premium. Do you have supplemental coverage? At your income level have you looked into Medicaid to supplement Medicare?
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I don’t know about other states, but In California we have MediCal which is our version of Medicaid. If you qualify by income and have almost no savings, you can have a MediCal/Medicare combo which would be at no cost to you. However, if you are a home owner, the state will sell you home at your death to cover whatever the state determines were your MediCal expenses at the time of your death. Since you will receive no statements from MediCal while you are on it, you will have no idea what sort of tab you are running up. My home will go to my children. Not to the state.
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Too true. I turned 65 during the great recession. I was self employed and my customers were small businesses, so I had lost half my income. Between making my house payment and Medicare part B, I chose the house. Two years later I got Part B, but I paid 20% more for it because I enrolled late. I continued to pay 20% more with each increase and I was never held harmless when there was no COLA, or when the COLA was smaller then the increase in Part B. They just took it out of what I received. During this pandemic, I lost my business, but at least my house is paid off.
I’ve been very healthy all my life, and have no “conditions” or bad habits. I used Part B three times; two cataract surgeries and a hernia. (I over estimated my strength.) In December I quit Part B. I need the income more than I need the health care. If anything really bad happens, I have part A for Hospice care. I’m quite happy to die in my own bed. For anything minor, I live in California quite close to the Mexican border. Mexico has perfectly good doctors who charge much less. My Spanish isn’t great, but I get by. Now I also get by financially with a whopping $965.00 a month to live on.
Dorothy in CA
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A clarification please. Your are referring to the $3.00 (or the adjusted percentage) that is artificially holding down the Medicare Part B premium? Or is the $3.00 making up for not paying the true cost for past years?
I guess what I am saying is I am not sure what the $3.00 payment is really for and how long people have been paying it. I currently have no experience with Medicare.
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