Study: Private Medicare costs &#36;5.2B more
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Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private, managed care plans cost the government 12.4 percent more than those in the traditional program last year, for a total cost of more than $5.2 billion, according to a study released Thursday.
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Health care costs were a bigger drain on American wallets this year than in 2000, with 14.3 million workers spending more than a quarter of their income on medical care, according to a study by Families USA.
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THURSDAY, Nov. 1 (HealthDay News) -- In 2006, introduction of the U.S. Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit increased the number of seniors' prescriptions by 158 million, at a cost of $32 billion to Medicare, a new study concludes.
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With soaring medical costs imperiling Medicare and the federal government&#39;s financial health, Washington needs a straight answer to a key question: Can private companies deliver more medical services for less money than the government-run Medicare program
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Critics see the flourishing trend of fee-for-service health plans as further evidence that the government is paying private industry to take Medicare off its hands.
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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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Members of Congress expressed concern about new data indicating that Medicare pays private health plans more than it would cost to care for the same patients in the traditional program.
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Most seniors and the disabled selected Medicare drug plans with a significant gap in coverage and Democratic lawmakers say that's because bridging it would have cost them, on average, nearly $40 a month more.
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As some lawmakers clamor for letting Medicare directly negotiate drug prices, Medicare's chief said on Wednesday that the health program for the elderly could save more money by letting the private sector set prices.
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Wider coverage for expensive  implanted heart devices likely will cost the U.S. Medicare  program for seniors about $2 billion over five years, the  program's administrator said on Thursday.
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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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Physician reimbursement accounts for a third of the increase, and it could become a target for political battle. Washington -- The steep rise in next year&#39;s Medicare Part B premiums can be tied in part to
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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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US Medicare patients&#39; monthly premiums for outpatient care will jump a record US$11.60 next year, while deductibles for hospitalized patients will rise US$36, the biggest increase in 14 years, reported Monday&#39;s China Daily.
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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 cost of living adjustment intended to help more than 47 million Social Security recipients keep up with inflation is expected to be a tad larger in 2005 than it was this year, but the bad news is that much of the increase will be eaten up by higher Medicare premiums.