Medicare Part B Premiums Increase over 14% in 2022
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 14, 2021 — Gasoline and groceries aren’t the only items seeing hefty prices increases coming out of the pandemic. Medicare just announced that Part B premiums will increase 14.5% next year, resulting in the heftiest dollar increase ever, $21.60/month for the majority of people receiving the benefit. The base charge for the Part B benefit will be $170.10 per month next year, as opposed to $148.50 this year. Individuals with higher incomes will pay more, as seen in the chart below. At the top end, those making $500,000 or more will pay $578.30.
The Part B deductible will increase from $203 to $233 in 2022. Whether these increases will cause people to switch to a Medicare Advantage plan, which often have zero or very low premiums, remains to be seen.
Increased health care utilization and concerns over Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm
Experts believe that increased calls for medical services, including Covid, are one reason for the hefty Part B increases. Others are concerned that the Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, if prescribed widely, could blow up Medicare’s budget. The price tag for the new drug is $56,000 per person per year, and could be covered under Part B.
Comments? Will the Part B increases cause you to look harder at a Medicare Advantage plan? What do you make of the decision for the government to pay for the use of this new and expensive drug? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Comments on "Medicare Part B Premiums Increase over 14% in 2022"
Everette says:
It’s disappointing that Social Security benefits go up by 5.9%, but Medicare B premiums go up by 14.5%.
The Medicare B Premium is a fixed amount so it takes up a disproportionately higher share of benefits for recipients with lower benefits.
For some beneficiaries with particularly low benefits (like teachers in 15 states with earnings from pensions not covered by Social Security) the increased Medicare premium will consume ALL of the cola/w increase.
For everyone else, the 14.5% increase will mean a loss in inflation-adjusted real income.
Denise says:
It’s a disgrace! If you’re receiving less than 2000/ month in SS with this increase & then the cost of a supplement plan - doesn’t leave much, and of course you pay income tax on SS
Seniors don’t get any breaks.
We are not all rich or have big retirement pensions ( I have no pension) or huge 402k plans or expensive homes to sell,
Maybe if they would raise the income level for Medicare & SS tax beyond 147,000 it would be more solvent
Maimi says:
This pandemic has exposed the ugly truth that senior citizens are not valued in this country. It really is a disgrace that they allowed this disproportionate increase in Part B, and all the supplements! Ironically, with all the talk of tax payer assistance for day care regardless of financial need, it is single senior women who have the highest rate of poverty because we stayed home to raise our own children and were given a zero in the SS look back calculation for every year we were out of the paid workforce raising our children. We are also taxed on our meager SS payments and those thresholds have not been changes since 1983! The sad fact is that senior citizens really do not have anyone advocating for us. The AARP is aligned with one political party and there is no real advocacy. We are a big group with no voice. The last 2 years have been hellish for seniors, and I see no change or concern at all coming from Washington. We have good reason to worry about the next few years.