The quick answer to this question is NO that is not the correct rate.
The numbers for 2022 have been released. The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that there will be a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) to your Social Security Benefits. Social Security Administration has announced an increase of 5.9% COLA. That is the largest COLA since 1982 (7.4%). Although in 1990 it was 5.4% and 2008 is was 5.8%.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has just announced the 2022 rates. The Medicare Part B Premium for 2021 is $148.50, the rate for 2022 is $170.10 a $21.60 increase. That is the largest increase I could find historically speaking. The COLA increase to your Social Security should more than cover that increase in the Medicare Part B premium.
If you have Medicare and Social Security you know that the Medicare Part premium comes out of your Social Security benefit each month.
The CMS announcement includes additional information. The Medicare Part B information is as follows; in 2021 the Part B deductible is $203 and in 2022 it increases to $233. The remainder of Part B covered services continue to be Medicare paying 80% and the individual or their secondary insurance paying 20%.
Medicare Part A for most Americans does not have a premium. The Medicare Part A Hospital deductible for 2021 is $1484 and in 2022 it is $1556. That is a $72 increase for each and every hospital stay, if you have no other insurance. This increase is actually smaller than last years.
There are other Medicare Part A co-pays to talk about. If you are hospitalized for more than 60 days, Medicare has a coinsurance amount of $389 per day for days 61 to 90 ($371 in 2021) Over 90 days in the hospital is a $778 coinsurance amount ($742 for 2021). Remember those long stays are one continuous stay, not the total days of multiple hospitalizations throughout the year.
The Medicare Part A, Skilled Nursing Benefit pays for your first 20 days of rehabilitation in full, but day 21 to 100 have a coinsurance amount of $194.50 per day ($185.50 in 2021).
This announcement is reassuring. We know that Medicare still covers the majority of our big medical bills and most individuals have insurance above and beyond Original Medicare.
For those individuals who pay a higher rate for their Medicare Part B premium, those rates will be adjusting as well, and is available on the www.medicare.gov website. We do know that the thresholds for those IRMAA rates also increase. So watch for your individual information to come from SSA, or visit the www.medicare.gov website
Remember that each year during December, Social Security Administration sends you a letter. That letter tells you what your new Social Security Benefit will be and what you pay for your Medicare Part B. So watch for that letter among all the other mail that comes this time of year.
