Keep Medicare Fair: Help us Fight Part B Premium Increases

By: States: New Jersey | Source: AARP.org

Congress will soon decide whether to increase Medicare Part B premiums even more to cover the cost of increasing payments to doctors. People on Medicare have always been willing to pay their fair share for their health care coverage. And they understand that doctors who treat Medicare patients must be paid fairly. But forcing older Americans to pay even higher premiums because of a flawed physician payment system is just not fair.

According to AARP’s Public Policy Institute, the monthly Part B premium that people on Medicare pay has more than doubled since 2000. And paying higher monthly Medicare Part B premiums is only the tip of the iceberg for those who must also pay for other health costs out of their pockets.

Medicare covers, on average, only about half of a beneficiary’s annual health care costs—not including long-term care. People in Medicare pay for about a quarter of their health care costs out of their own pockets. The hospital deductible alone is over $1,000!

44 million Americans rely on Medicare every day for affordable health coverage. Most people on Medicare have no other option for affordable health care coverage and excessive Part B premium increases discourage people on Medicare from getting the care they need.  People like Annette E., of Crystal Lake, Illinois wrote to us: “It's becoming very difficult for me to "make ends meet" with all these increases because I depend only on my Social Security widows’ benefit to pay my bills. With fair premiums I am able to get the health care I need to stay healthy and enjoy my life.”

Or Rita O., of Titusville, Florida, who tells us “My husband and I retired in 2001 believing we were helping younger people and people with children find jobs. Then came the big increases in our Medicare [Part B] premiums. With prices so high now for medical care, food and gas, it is getting very hard just to make ends meet. It looks like we’re going to have to go back to work after all these years. With the economy the way it is, we’ll be lucky to find a job at our age. Please keep Medicare [Part B] premiums fair. Don’t make it harder than it already is.”

It is AARP’s hope that concerned New Jerseyans will take an active role in contacting U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. With almost 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries living in the Garden State, it is paramount that Congress commit to keeping Medicare fair for every single one of them. It is vital to keep this essential program affordable.

AARP is fighting to keep your Medicare premiums fair, but we need your help.

Call your senators at 1-800-869-3150 and tell them raising Medicare premiums again to cover the cost of paying doctors more is just not fair! Call 1-800-869-3150 now!