Health & Fitness
Medicare Part B Rate Increases for 2012
The increase for Part B Medicare in 2012 will be only $3.50, much less than predicted earlier. But what is often overlooked is that since 2007 the rich pay more.
Medicare Part B rates in 2012
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Medicare premiums for 2012. The standard Medicare Part B monthly premium will be $99.90 in 2012. Most Medicare beneficiaries were held harmless (from paying Part B increases) in 2011 and the previous two years and paid $96.40 per month. The 2012 premium represents a $3.50 increase for them.
In 2012, Social Security monthly payments to enrollees will increase by 3.6 percent. The dollar increase in benefit checks will be large enough on average to cover the increase in the Part B premium of $3.50 that most beneficiaries will experience. The Law prohibits any Medicare increase that would reduce the Social Security take-home check.
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As required in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, beginning in 2007 the Part B premium that a beneficiary pays each month is based on his or her annual income. About 4 percent of current Part B enrollees are expected to be subject to these higher premium amounts. The 2012 Part B monthly premium rates to be paid by beneficiaries who file an individual tax return or who file a joint tax return are shown in the following table:
Beneficiaries who file an individual tax return with income:
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Beneficiaries who file a joint tax return with income:
Part B income-related monthly adjustment amount
Total monthly Part B premium amount
Less than or equal to $85,000
Less than or equal to $170,000
$0.00
$99.90
Greater than $85,000 and less than or equal to $107,000
Greater than $170,000 and less than or equal to $214,000
$40.00
$139.90
Greater than $107,000 and less than or equal to $160,000
Greater than $214,000 and less than or equal to $320,000
$99.90
$199.80
Greater than $160,000 and less than or equal to $214,000
Greater than $320,000 and less than or equal to $428,000
$159.80
$259.70
Greater than $214,000
Greater than $428,000
$219.80
$319.70
[CMS Press Release: October 27, 2011]
