zimv20
Sep 3, 2004, 09:50 PM
aka "more friday night bad news"
link (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/04/politics/04health.html?hp)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 - A day after President Bush heralded his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical expenses, federal officials announced the largest premium increase in the Medicare program's history, raising the monthly expense by $11.60 to $78.20.
The 17 percent increase results largely from increased payments to doctors and reflects rising medical expenses generally, officials said. The rise has nothing to do with a program that will start in 2006 to offer prescription drugs, for which beneficiaries must pay a separate premium.
Dr. McClellan acknowledged that about $1.75 of this year's $11.60 premium increase results from the billions Medicare is paying insurers to encourage them to offer private plans. Many in Congress refused last year to support the new Medicare drug benefit legislation unless the program did more to lure patients into such private plans.
As Medicare cut costs in recent years, many private health insurers bowed out of the program, leading the number of beneficiaries in private plans to drop to 4.6 million last year, or 11 percent of the beneficiaries, from 6.3 million, or 16 percent of beneficiaries, in 1999. With higher administrative costs, private plans are generally more costly than regular Medicare and thus need subsidies to provide services.
In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year.
Dr. McClellan said that politics played no role in the decision to announce the increase late Friday afternoon, just as much of official Washington was heading out for a three-day weekend and the Republican convention and a hurricane moving toward Florida were dominating the news. He said he simply wanted to make the announcement as soon as he had the information.
link (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/04/politics/04health.html?hp)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 - A day after President Bush heralded his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical expenses, federal officials announced the largest premium increase in the Medicare program's history, raising the monthly expense by $11.60 to $78.20.
The 17 percent increase results largely from increased payments to doctors and reflects rising medical expenses generally, officials said. The rise has nothing to do with a program that will start in 2006 to offer prescription drugs, for which beneficiaries must pay a separate premium.
Dr. McClellan acknowledged that about $1.75 of this year's $11.60 premium increase results from the billions Medicare is paying insurers to encourage them to offer private plans. Many in Congress refused last year to support the new Medicare drug benefit legislation unless the program did more to lure patients into such private plans.
As Medicare cut costs in recent years, many private health insurers bowed out of the program, leading the number of beneficiaries in private plans to drop to 4.6 million last year, or 11 percent of the beneficiaries, from 6.3 million, or 16 percent of beneficiaries, in 1999. With higher administrative costs, private plans are generally more costly than regular Medicare and thus need subsidies to provide services.
In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year.
Dr. McClellan said that politics played no role in the decision to announce the increase late Friday afternoon, just as much of official Washington was heading out for a three-day weekend and the Republican convention and a hurricane moving toward Florida were dominating the news. He said he simply wanted to make the announcement as soon as he had the information.
