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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Metacomet who wrote (881483)	8/21/2015 4:38:31 PM
From: Broken_Clock	1 Recommendation Recommended By locogringo Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574582

You should really research this before speaking. Supplemental doubled because I don't live in a city. One of the nastier downsides is that the insurers are hammering rates higher for rural clients. +++ Medicare Budget in 2015: Obama’s FY 2015 Budget to Cut Payments and Increase Premiums Posted on March 6, 2014 by Angela Chen The Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget plans to cut the federal deficit by reducing payments to Medicare, increasing income-related premiums, and supporting other cost-saving measures. On Tuesday, March 4, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released their budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year. The new budget proposed by President Barack Obama’s administration calls for approximately $522 billion in Medicare spending. HHS oversees Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the expanded coverage for younger individuals through Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. This budget proposal fully funds the ACA implementation and adds $14.6 billion over the next 10 years to ensure health provider access to rural and other underserved communities. However, this budget also includes billion dollar cuts to the Medicare program and other changes that will greatly affect seniors and other beneficiaries. Why the administration plans to cut Medicare fundingWith the aging population comes more individuals collecting their Social Security benefits and becoming eligible for the Medicare program. The growth of these two government programs, among others, is driving deficits and potentially taking money from other priorities, such as defense and education. Ways to cut the growing costs of these programs have been part of the conversation for a long time. However, with the new proposal, it seems that plans to slow down the growth of Social Security benefits have been pulled back, while Medicare budget cuts have been left on the table. The legislative proposals in the 2015 budget are expected to save $407.2 billion in Medicare spending over 10 years. Budget Impact on the Medicare programThe administration plans to reduce the federal deficit by implementing changes and cuts to the Medicare budget, which include, but are not limited to, the following: Increase income-related Medicare Part B and Part D premiums Currently, beneficiaries with incomes above a certain level are required to pay a higher monthly premium for Medicare Part B and Part D coverage. This proposal would restructure these income-related premiums by increasing the lowest income-related premiums by five percentage points to 40% and creating new tiers for every 12.5 percentage points until the highest tier is capped at 90%. While current estimates claim that less than 5% of all Medicare beneficiaries are affected by this higher premium, the new proposal aims to maintain these thresholds until 25% of all beneficiaries enrolled in Part B and Part D are subject to these premiums. Modify Part B costs for new beneficiaries The proposal also includes changes that will increase Medicare service costs for the beneficiary. Starting in 2018, the proposal would apply a $25 increase to the Part B deductible in 2018, 2020, and 2022 for new beneficiaries. Additionally, starting in that same year, a new Part B premium surcharge will be implemented for new beneficiaries who purchase Medigap policies with cost-sharing requirements below certain limits. Reduce payments to health care providers participating in Medicare A variety of payment cuts are proposed by the budget. This includes cuts to small rural hospitals, who previously received enhanced cost-based payments rather than the fixed-fee payment that other hospitals receive. In an effort to promote higher quality care, cuts are also proposed for Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) care payments starting in 2018 for facilities with high, preventable readmission rates. Other proposals include modifying reimbursements for Part B drugs, bundling payments for post-acute care providers, and aligning Medicare drug payment policies for low-income beneficiaries, all of which aim to reduce spending. In total, these proposed cuts will reach over $350 billion in payments to Medicare providers, about $50 billion more than the reductions proposed last year. For more in-depth information on the FY 2015 Budget, visit the HHS website. The Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press also covered this story.