Medicare Premiums to Make Record Raise
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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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Some Democrats in Congress, looking at the 17 percent jump in Medicare premiums due to go into effect next year, say there ought to be legislation delaying the increase for a year.
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Health insurance premiums for  workers are rising around three times faster than their wages,  and health costs eat up a quarter of earnings for more than 14  million Americans, according to a survey on Tuesday.
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Democrat John Kerry criticized President Bush on Saturday for burying a record jump in Medicare premiums in a pre-holiday announcement that came during a rush of news at home and abroad.
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Costs of employer-sponsored health plans are expected to climb an average of 8 percent in 2005, the first time in five years increases have been in single digits.
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The standard Medicare premium will rise to $96.40 a month next year, an increase of $2.90 a month. The 3.1 percent increase is the smallest since 1999-2000.
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We shouldn&#39;t have been so shocked when the Bush administration sneaked out the news under cover of the Labor Day weekend that the Medicare Part B monthly premium is rising next year by 17.
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CHICAGO: Health insurance premiums rose five times faster than US workersâ salaries this year, according to a survey released last Thursday that also showed slippage in the percentage of American workers covered by employer health plans.
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Most seniors will have to pay 5.6 percent more for basic Medicare coverage next year, officials announced yesterday. But premiums for more affluent beneficiaries will increase by as much as 83 percent, because the federal government for the first time will require wealthier people to pay more.
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Health insurance premiums for workers are rising around three times faster than their wages, and health costs eat up a quarter of earnings
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Health insurance costs are going up, and up, and up. And in some cases, up some more. Premiums for employer-sponsored plans rose by 11.
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Many elderly and disabled Americans participating in the Medicare drug benefit next year will have more plans to choose from as the number of companies offering coverage nationwide jumps to 17.
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Democrats are vowing to roll back a sharp increase in premiums announced this month and the Bush campaign is seeking to blame lawmakers for the rise.
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Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise 17 percent next year, the Bush administration said Friday. The &#36;11.60-a-month increase is the largest in the program's 40-year-history.
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Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums rose 11.2 percent this year, registering the fourth consecutive double-digit annual increase and pushing the cost of family coverage under the most common type of plan past $10,000, according to a new survey.
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New, sharply higher charges announced for Medicare beneficiaries this month may prompt more elderly people to join Medicare health maintenance organizations operated by private industry, according to insurance executives and industry analysts.
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Health-insurance premiums paid by US employers rose 11.2 percent this year, five times as fast as wages, according to a study that may reinforce voters&#39; concerns over rising medical costs.