Unlike in 2023, when Medicare Part B premiums and annual deductibles went down, they will rise in 2024.  These premiums come off the top from your Social Security benefit as an automatic deduction before the net benefit hits your bank account.

Here are the changes, as set forth In a fact sheet recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

Medicare Part B Changes

Medicare Part B enrollees will pay a standard monthly premium of $174.70 (up $9.80 from $164.90 in 2023). (Note that beneficiaries who have higher incomes typically have a higher premium.)

The Part B annual deductible is rising to $240 in 2024 (an increase of $14 from $226 in 2023). Part B enrollees must cover all costs until they meet this deductible; Medicare then pays for most of the remaining fees.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for seniors and people with qualifying disabilities. Medicare Part B specifically focuses on covering such services as medically necessary visits to doctors, outpatient medical treatments, ground ambulance transport, and preventative care, including vaccines.

Updates to Medicare Part A Charges

The deductible for Medicare Part A will also see a slight increase, about 2 percent, from $1,600 in 2023 up to $1,632 in 2024. Note that most people end up paying no premium for Part A because they (or their spouse) paid Medicare taxes throughout the years they were employed.

Part A relates to medical care in institutions such as inpatient hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, in addition to other settings. If you’re an enrollee and are admitted to a hospital, Medicare Part A will pay for your expenses for the first 60 days, after you pay your deductible. If you go to a nursing home, referred to as a “skilled nursing facility”, and the stay is expected to be temporary, Part A covers the first 20 days. After that, you’ll have the following co-pays:

  • Co-payment for hospital stay, days 61 to 90= $408 per day in 2024 (up from $400 in 2023)
  • Co-payment for hospital stay, days 91 and beyond= $816 per day in 2024 (an increase from $800 in 2023)
  • Co-payment for skilled nursing facility, days 21 to 100= $204 per day in 2024 (up from $200 in 2023)

Medicare Open Enrollment

Each fall, from October 15 to December 7, Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period takes place. During this time, you can enroll in a plan or make changes to your existing plan. Dionysios Pappas, an attorney with the law firm of Vasiliadis Pappas Associates, cautions that “making a change might result in higher premiums due to  your enrolling at a higher age and because a new medical evaluation is required.”

Contact Vasiliadis Pappas Associates, we can help!