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BASIC MEDICARE PREMIUM TO INCREASE 13 PERCENT
The premium for Medicare Part B (physicians) will rise 13 percent next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Sept. 16, raising the cost to $88.50 a month. Doctors are billing Medicare for longer, more intensive office visits, more laboratory tests and more frequent and complex imaging procedures, thus contributing to the premium increase. Although the increase was not quite as steep as the 17 percent hike between 2004 and 2005, it is a source of major concern to CMS. The Part B deductible will be $124 in 2006, compared to $110 in 2005. The Part A deductible, which pays for inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility and some home healthcare, will be $952, compared to the current $912.
AFT-BACKED BILL WOULD ALLOW SIX MORE MONTHS TO ENROLL IN MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT
The AFT has thrown its support behind HR 3861, a bill introduced Sept. 22 by Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) that would extend from May 15, 2006, until Dec. 31, 2006, the deadline for beneficiaries to enroll in the Medicare prescription drug benefit without financial penalties. The measure would also allow beneficiaries to make a one-time change in their enrollment plan during 2006 and prohibit beneficiaries' former employers from dropping retiree health benefits during the first year of the drug benefit. A starkly different response came from the other side of the aisle. The 110-member Republican Study Committee has proposed delaying the benefit for one year, estimating that such a move could save $31 billion. The cuts are part of �Operation Offset,� a list of suggested budget cuts intended to make up for the estimated $200 billion cost of recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina. The White House and Republican leaders in Congress are adamantly opposed to the move. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), indicted last week on ethics violations, has also said that rolling back the administration's massive tax cuts, which go mostly to Americans making $1 million a year, to pay the costs of rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is not an option. Republican leaders say that they intend to move forward with additional tax cuts, costing the federal treasury $70 billion. This year alone, the Bush tax cuts already in place will cost $225 billion, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.