Perspective               

New Premiums and Deductibles for 2002

The Department of Health and Human Services has just announced the new Medicare premiums and deductibles for 2002. The Part A deductible, the amount you must pay before Medicare begins paying, for inpatient hospital services will go from $792 to $812, a 2.5 percent increase from 2001.

While the Part A deductible applies only to people with Original Medicare, people with Medicare HMOs usually pay copays for these services. In fact, HMO copays for these services have been rising in recent years. Starting next year, one Wisconsin Medicare HMO will charge a copay of $350 per day spent in a hospital. With Original Medicare, the deductible of $812 is your only cost for a single Medicare-covered inpatient hospital stay. And, most supplemental insurance will pick up this cost.

The premium for Part B, which helps pay for doctors' services, will rise to $54 a month, up 8 percent from $50 a month in 2001. This Part B premium applies to both people with Original Medicare and Medicare HMOs. People with Medicare HMOs often times must also pay a monthly premium to their HMO in addition to the Part B premium. The number of HMOs charging their enrollees a premium has gone up in the last few years. In 2001, 54 percent of Medicare HMOs charged enrollees a premium, compared to 20 percent in 1999.

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