Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts change annually. Here’s a look at some of the costs for 2019 for those enrolled in Original Medicare (Part A and Part B).

Medicare Part B premiums

Most with Medicare who receive Social Security benefits will pay the standard monthly Part B premium of $135.50 in 2019. However, for some whose premiums are deducted from Social Security benefits and the 2019 increase in benefits will not be enough to cover the Medicare Part B increase, then they may pay less than the standard Part B premium, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Those with higher incomes may pay more than the standard premium. If your modified adjusted gross income as reported on your federal income tax return from two years ago is above a certain amount, you’ll pay the standard premium amount plus an “Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount,” or IRMAA, which is an extra charge added to your premium, as shown in this table:

Other Medicare costs

Other Medicare Part A and Part B costs in 2019:

• The annual Medicare Part B deductible for “Original Medicare” is $185.
• The monthly Medicare Part A premium — for those who need to buy coverage — will cost up to $437. However, most people don’t have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A.
• The Medicare Part A deductible for inpatient hospitalization is $1,364 per benefit period. An additional daily co-insurance amount of $341 will apply for days 61 through 90, and $682 for stays beyond 90 days.
• Beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities will pay a daily co-insurance amount of $170.50 for days 21-100 in a benefit period.

One of the most confusing Medicare provisions is the coverage gap, often called the “donut hole.” It may be clearer if you look at it as the uncovered portion of the annual Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage. Here’s a way to understand it better. This also applies to drug coverage that is integrated into a Part C Medicare Advantage Plan.

Annual deductible. Prescription drug plans typically have an annual deductible, not to exceed $405 in 2018. Before you reach the deductible, you have to pay the full cost of your prescriptions, although you may receive negotiated discounts.

Initial coverage period. After you meet the annual deductible, your plan will pay a portion of your prescription drug costs, and you will typically have a co-payment or co-insurance amount. A 25% co-insurance payment is the standard coverage required by Medicare, but most plans have different levels or “tiers” of copayments or coinsurance for different types of drugs.

The coverage gap. When you and your plan combined have spent a specified amount on drugs for the year ($3,750 in 2018), you enter the coverage gap. In 2018, you would have paid 35% of your plan’s price for covered brand-name prescription drugs and 44% of the price for generic drugs. The gap is closing over the next two years. You remain in the coverage gap until you reach an annual out-of-pocket spending limit ($5,000 in 2018). Spending that counts toward that limit includes:

– your deductible, copay, and coinsurance;
– the manufacturer’s discount on brand-name drugs in the coverage gap; and
– your out-of-pocket payments in the gap.

It does not include your premiums, the amounts the plan pays, or your payments for non-covered drugs.

Catastrophic coverage. Once you have reached the out-of-pocket limit, you receive catastrophic coverage with much lower payments. In 2018, you would have paid the greater of 5% of drug costs or $3.35/$8.35 for each generic and/or brand-name drug, respectively.

Some plans have more generous coverage in the gap. You may be able to avoid the coverage gap by using generic medicine, when appropriate, to lower your drug costs. The Affordable Care Act mandated that beneficiaries pay no more than the standard 25% co-insurance amount for drugs by 2020, effectively ending the “coverage gap,” if the act remains intact
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As always, we recommend researching the different plans that are offered each year. Let us know what you are quoted and what you need, and we’ll help you figure it out.

Ever wonder why we want to hear your voice when you are requesting money? We have had this “double authentication” practice since Blue Spark Financial began, for the safety of our clients, and we understand that sometimes it’s a pain to take the extra step to pick up the phone after an email. But it’s in place to protect against hackers – and they are getting more sophisticated. We know all our clients’ voices, and you can’t fake that.

We urge you to take the same care with all your transactions, not just Blue Spark. If you are asked to send money by anyone, double-check all the details by phone before you send. Even if you are expecting to send money to a person, make sure it’s the right account.

New email hacks

Just this week we heard about a spike in fraud related to money requests. Here are a few recent situations: People were working with a lawyer or real estate agent by email. They were given instructions on where to send funds for a closing or other transaction – only to find out later that the lawyer or real estate agent’s email was hacked and the email didn’t really come from them. There was no verbal confirmation, and people just sent the funds through the links provided in the email, which appeared to come from the people they were working with but were in fact fraudulent. Their funds were compromised and sent to an unknown third party. In another case, it was a fraudulent fax request to disburse funds.

Make sure you call as well as verify exact details before sending any money – by wire, Venmo, or any other electronic means – even if you know the person well.

Typo Fraud: Edit yourself online

We’ve heard that scammers love typos. Why is that so? Think about typing in a website (because you’ve heard that is better than clicking a link in an email, which is true!) but you mistype .com with .cm, or instead of .org it’s .ogg.

Scammers know that people make mistakes, and they are waiting. They have bought addresses with just one letter away from real websites to hijack unwitting Internet users. It’s a new hack called “typosquatting” intended to trick users, according to the National Consumers League.

The unintended website could ask you for personal information that you believe is secure. It could look just like the correct website and lures people to give Social Security numbers, account numbers, names and passwords.

The fake sites could also be selling knock-off imitation products, as well as gathering sensitive data, the National Consumers League said in an alert issued this month. This is just another reason to be very careful when using the Internet.

New Medicare Card Scam

Hang up on anyone who calls saying they are with Medicare. Scammers are phoning Medicare recipients and pretending to be representatives of the government healthcare program, AARP reports. The caller then tells the victim that they need personal identifiers are required to make the switch to the new Medicare card – including Social Security numbers and bank account information.
None of these are true, but the scammers are telling seniors that:

• You must pay for your new Medicare card or you’ll lose your Medicare benefits
• Medicare is updating its files and needs your bank and credit card numbers
• Medicare is confirming your Social Security number before you can receive your new card
• Medicare needs your bank information to send you a refund on your old card

Representatives of Medicare do not call consumers. Just hang up on anyone claiming to be from Medicare on the phone.

Medicare is indeed replacing its old cards – which had recipients’ Social Security numbers listed on them. It is doing this to try to reduce the opportunity for fraud and identity theft. It’s ironic that scammers are using that positive action for their own gain.

Once your new card arrives, destroy your old one. Shred it, don’t just put it in the trash!