CMS Announces Medicare Premiums, Deductibles for 2009
The standard Medicare Part B monthly premium will be $96.40 in 2009, the same as the Part B premium for 2008. This is the first year since 2000 that there was no increase in the standard premium over the prior year.
The 2009 Part B premium of $96.40 is the same as the amount projected in the 2008 Medicare Trustees Report issued in March. This monthly premium paid by beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part B covers a portion of the cost of physicians' services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and other items.
By law, the standard premium is set to cover approximately one-fourth of the average cost of Part B services incurred by beneficiaries aged 65 and over. The remaining Part B costs are financed by Federal general revenues. The income to the program from premiums and general revenues are paid into the Part B account of the Supplementary Medical Insurance trust fund, and Part B expenditures are drawn from this account.
Normally, the Part B premium increases at the same rate as average Part B expenditures from year to year. A number of factors explain why the premium can be kept level for 2009.
Growth is expected in 2009 for most areas of the Medicare Part B program, including growth in the cost and use of physician and outpatient hospital care, home health services, physician-administered drugs, ambulatory surgical center services, durable medical equipment, independent lab and physician's office lab services, as well as growth in the Medicare Advantage program. In most years, this would result in the need for an increase in the Part B premium and general revenue financing.
To view this Fact Sheet in its entirety go to: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/fact_sheets.asp
