Private Plans Boost Medicare Spending
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FRIDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Efforts to include more private insurers in Medicare may be costing the agency more money, new research shows.
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Reversing a trend in which private health plans have been quitting the federal Medicare program, US officials Wednesday announced that more plans will join next year.
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The health insurance salesman who came to Gloria Young's house made a strong pitch. His company's private Medicare plan could meet her needs just as well and much more cheaply.
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Massachusetts health insurers are promoting a new type of Medicare coverage for seniors in 2008 that potentially offers better coverage than traditional government-sponsored Medicare. The new plans, called private fee-for-service, also raise questions about the long-term direction of Medicare because they cost more than traditional coverage but are not held to higher quality and efficiency standards.
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Low-income Medicare beneficiaries are projected to reap substantial savings from the new Part D prescription drug benefit; however, others may pay as much or more for their prescriptions after implementation of the law, a new analysis released by The
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WASHINGTON  - Reversing a trend in which  private health plans have been quitting the federal Medicare  program, U.S. officials Wednesday announced that more plans  will join next year.
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WASHINGTON Sept. 4, 2004 - Medicare premiums for doctor visits are going up a record $11.60 a month next year. The Bush administration says the increase reflects a strengthened Medicare, while Democrats complain that seniors are being unfairly socked.
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The growth in health care spending by private employers slowed in recent years, creating some optimism that the employers had turned the corner in their struggle with rising costs.
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Oct. 7, 2004 - Medicare Advantage plans, the group program option to fee-for-service Medicare, are seeking to expand coverage to 1.6 more seniors and persons with disabilities and also lowering the cost
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Premiums for employer-sponsored health plans rose an average of 11.2 percent in 2004, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to a study released Thursday by the Washington, DC-based Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and
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It will be the first time that high-income beneficiaries will have higher premiums for Medicare coverage.
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More than 47 million Americans receiving Social Security will get a 2.7 percent increase -- an extra $25, on average -- in their monthly checks next year, but much of the increase will be eaten up by higher Medicare premiums.
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US Medicare premiums will increase by 17 percent in 2005, an increase unequaled in the history of medicare. Monthly premiums will increase by $11.
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MONDAY, Nov. 22 (HealthDay News) -- One part of the new Medicare drug plan passed by Congress earlier this year could live up to its advance clippings and save people a lot of money. But some people could end up spending more than &#36;750 out-of-pocket even after they participate in the program.
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Federal officials say rising costs, increased payments and some new benefits mean Medicare must raise its Part B premium 17% next year for most of the nearly 42 million seniors and disabled people covered by the program.
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Private insurers in the Medicare  insurance program were paid 12.4 percent more by the government  than the health care provided would have cost under traditional  Medicare, a report released on Thursday said.
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The U.S. Medicare program will charge   lower than expected premiums next year in the U.S. health   insurance plan for the elderly, but wealthier recipients for   the first time will pay more for doctor visits and other care   outside the hospital.