topic Re: Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again in Community Chat

Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again

SharkE — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:12:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare has announced the "Part B" premium for 2017, and for most beneficiaries it's a modest increase.

Next year's tiny Social Security cost-of-living increase means that about 70 percent of Medicare recipients will be protected from rising medical costs. For this group, the average premium will be about $109 a month.

That's about 4 percent more than the $104.90 they paid this year.

Medicare's Part B covers outpatient services such as office visits.

For the remaining beneficiaries, the average 2017 premium will be $134, or 10 percent higher.

On top of the basic premium, individual retirees making more than $85,000 and married couples with incomes above $170,000 pay an extra surcharge. Those range to nearly $300 at the highest income levels.

The Part B deductible will be $183.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Lila Belle — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 04:13:07 GMT

Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

3suwm5 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 05:15:15 GMT

I heard tonight about 106M are receiving help from social programs of some sort and about 114M are working. That's a big problem,where does the $$ come from?

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Snowpuppy — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 05:51:42 GMT

@3suwm5 wrote:
I heard tonight about 106M are receiving help from social programs of some sort and about 114M are working. That's a big problem,where does the $$ come from?

65 million people receive either SS, SSI or SSD. That's more than 1 in 5 or 20% of the entire population of the US. That figure comes from the COLA announcement press release.

SSI comes out of the general fund, not SS trust fund.

We have $19T in debt so "debt" is what funds most of SSI.

SSD goes broke every seven years or so as was projected for 2016. SSD then requests to borrow money from the retirement fund to finance SSD for a while longer.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

maestra — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 11:03:42 GMT

@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.

There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Winifred — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 14:07:16 GMT

Interesting in that SS has been around for quite a while and I certainly ALWAYS paid into it. In 1999 the premium one paid for their Medicare was only $56 a month after all those years - like I said it had been here for many years then. It then jumped from that to what it is now - just ridiculous. But then Bush messed SS up quite a bit and these increases began with his presidency. Already knew this increase was coming - it was announced some years back.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

SharkE — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 14:30:46 GMT

I get on it in Dec. and was told my premium would be 120 something.

Guess it's already been raised before Dec. 1st. I'm confused.

My Humana went to 650 a month, so, guess I'm still ahead, but, my little SS check seems to be shrinking.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

mstyrion 1 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 15:46:33 GMT

SS and Medicare are not the same thing. What you are talking about is an increase in Medicare premiums, not an increase in SS payments, right?

Maybe a modification of your thread title would be less misleading, OP.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

SharkE — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 15:51:54 GMT

They take your Medicare Part B premium out of your SS benefit.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

mstyrion 1 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:05:22 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
They take your Medicare Part B premium out of your SS benefit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes.

So your title should be SS payment is going down.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

SharkE — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:11:19 GMT

Thank you

Re: Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again

Suhse — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 21:20:39 GMT

I'd love to get some opinions. My Aunt is 66. She'd been very active, until a year or so ago, when her arthritis, got much worse, she is admitting, she'll probably need a total hip. For now, she's uses a cane/walker for stability, and if a lot of walking is needed, she really needs a wheelchair.

She currently has just Medicare part A. She is working full time, works from home. She has decent private insurance, pays about $160 a month, based on her seniority. She h as never married, no children, modest salary, about $30,000.

She asked for my input, re: ending her private insurance and going to full Medicare. S

Re: Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again

NicksmomESQ — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 21:29:36 GMT

$160 seems like a good deal to me.If your aunt is satisfied with her plan I would leave it as is.If it ain't broke don't fix it!!!

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

3suwm5 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 21:59:57 GMT

@maestra wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.
There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.

@maestra I say, congratulations to you!! Yes, we do, girlfriend; I'm a survivor of 18+ years. There certainly are more important things to worry about, than a comment from the bully pulpit.

God Bless You, Maestra.

Re: Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again

NickNack — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:02:51 GMT

@Suhse I think she'll have to pay a penalty if she doesn't get Medicare Part B and doesn't have insurance through her employer. Here's some information I found. I would suggest she enroll and get her Medicare supplements, too.

If you do not have employer insurance and you turn down Part B, you may have to pay a hefty premium penalty when you do sign up. If you are 65, but are not receiving Social Security retirement benefits or Railroad Retirement benefits, you will need to actively enroll in Medicare.

Re: Looks like Medicare Part B is going up again

SharkE — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:29:31 GMT

What I was thinking, also. The Gov. slaps a penalty on you if you don't sign up when your suppose to .

I was already on SS last yr. at 64 because hubbo reached full benefits at 66 , so, they knew I was on SS, so, they take out the Medicare Part B premium when they knew I would turn 65 this yr.

I already have my supplement and Drug plan (don't take any drugs at this point in time) but, the Gov. will slap a penalty on you if you don't take at least the minimum drug plan available which for me is Humana/Walmart.

17-18 a month. Suppose to be the cheapest.

I'm all set now. So happy to be getting off of private pay policy. Major medical just on me had rose to 650 a month. We're going out to celebrate at a nice place. Getting off that merry go round.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Noel7 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:39:58 GMT

@maestra wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.
There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.

************************************

@maestra

Lila Belle put it in the future tense, not the past. There are many more who think they might lose everything, at least four hundred thousand more.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Mominohio — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:43:45 GMT

@3suwm5 wrote:
@maestra wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.
There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.
@maestra I say, congratulations to you!! Yes, we do, girlfriend; I'm a survivor of 18+ years. There certainly are more important things to worry about, than a comment from the bully pulpit.

God Bless You, Maestra.

I applaud all survivors of illness, disease, abuse and the other hard knocks life has to deal us.

But knowing that surviving and beating/delaying death doesn't in the least negate the fact that millions of people are barely making it financially, and are losing 'everything' in the way of finances to keep their head above water. Increasing costs for everything from food to healthcare (which is simply skyrocketing for so many) is causing them to loose their lifestyle (which for many wasn't all that high to begin with), their homes, their savings and their confidence and peace of mind.

The stresses from this can contribute to illness and depression and leaves many feeling helpless. Facing a financial crisis, and loosing the grip of being able to afford health care or in doing so leading to the loss of other assets is not something to be marginalized, in my opinion. It is affecting more an more people with each passing year.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Noel7 — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:48:02 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
@3suwm5 wrote:
@maestra wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.
There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.
@maestra I say, congratulations to you!! Yes, we do, girlfriend; I'm a survivor of 18+ years. There certainly are more important things to worry about, than a comment from the bully pulpit.

God Bless You, Maestra.

I applaud all survivors of illness, disease, abuse and the other hard knocks life has to deal us.

But knowing that surviving and beating/delaying death doesn't in the least negate the fact that millions of people are barely making it financially, and are losing 'everything' in the way of finances to keep their head above water. Increasing costs for everything from food to healthcare (which is simply skyrocketing for so many) is causing them to loose their lifestyle (which for many wasn't all that high to begin with), their homes, their savings and their confidence and peace of mind.

The stresses from this can contribute to illness and depression and leaves many feeling helpless. Facing a financial crisis, and loosing the grip of being able to afford health care or in doing so leading to the loss of other assets is not something to be marginalized, in my opinion. It is affecting more an more people with each passing year.

*********************************

@Mominohio

I agree with you but I don't understand what beating death has to do with it.

I did that AGAIN just four months ago.

Re: Loos like SS is going up again

Mominohio — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:54:11 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
@Mominohio wrote:
@3suwm5 wrote:
@maestra wrote:
@Lila Belle wrote:
Brace yourselves. It's only going to cost more for everything. What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING.
There are many of us that havent lost EVERYTHING!

We have hope for the future . I say this as a breast cancer survivor of 1 year now.
@maestra I say, congratulations to you!! Yes, we do, girlfriend; I'm a survivor of 18+ years. There certainly are more important things to worry about, than a comment from the bully pulpit.

God Bless You, Maestra.

I applaud all survivors of illness, disease, abuse and the other hard knocks life has to deal us.

But knowing that surviving and beating/delaying death doesn't in the least negate the fact that millions of people are barely making it financially, and are losing 'everything' in the way of finances to keep their head above water. Increasing costs for everything from food to healthcare (which is simply skyrocketing for so many) is causing them to loose their lifestyle (which for many wasn't all that high to begin with), their homes, their savings and their confidence and peace of mind.

The stresses from this can contribute to illness and depression and leaves many feeling helpless. Facing a financial crisis, and loosing the grip of being able to afford health care or in doing so leading to the loss of other assets is not something to be marginalized, in my opinion. It is affecting more an more people with each passing year.
*********************************

@Mominohio

I agree with you but I don't understand what beating death has to do with it.

I did that AGAIN just four months ago.

@Noel7

A couple of survivors posted previously in this quoted grouping, and made that seem like other worries are less critical/valid. While I will agree, being healthy is the best of all things, and we like to believe that if we have our health, we have it all, the truth is that people who are facing mounting medical premiums/deductibles/co pays etc, and loosing their other assets and seeing a downturn in their economic level in order to keep up with it, are facing truly valid and concerning issues. I just felt they were marginalizing the original quote in this grouping, which is true, some people stand to loose everything with health care costs (as well as other costs) being what they are today, and what they are forecasted to be in the future.