Any comment, sirs?
For the third year in a row, Medicare beneficiaries won't be facing higher Part B premiums. Part B covers doctors visits, outpatient care, durable medical equipment and other non-hospitalization type medical services. This year,
it's remaining a pretty good deal for seniors, a continuing trend.
Over the past four years, per capita Medicare spending growth has averaged just 0.8% annually, versus a 3.1% annual increase in per capita gross domestic product over the same period, according to Health & Human Services. In a statement, [HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews] Burwell attributed this slowed growth, and the stabilization of Part B premiums, to cost savings realized under the Affordable Care Act.
Most beneficiaries will continue to pay a monthly $104.90 premium. About 5 percent of the Medicare population makes more than $85,000 annually, and is subject to a higher premium rate—$146.90 a month. The annual deductible for Part B is going to remain $147. Deductibles for Part A (which covers hospitalizations and doesn't require premiums) are going to increase by $44 to $1,260 for the first 60 days of a period of illness.
Obamacare isn't the only factor in the slowdown in Medicare costs, but it is a factor. The dividends are great for beneficiaries—no premium increases!—but also for, well, everyone. You wouldn't know it from the national media, but Obamacare is saving money all over the place and has helped bring down the deficit.
The fact that the savings in Medicare over the last several years are bigger than any of the deficit reduction plans deficit peacocks have put forward is, in the immortal words of Vice President Joe Biden, a big fucking deal.
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The deficit peacocks don't want you to know all this good Medicare news, because it means that their whole rationale for slashing social insurance programs has flown out the window.