2023: Medicare premiums and other costs

The Medicare Open Enrollment period begins on October 15 and ends on December 7, so you will have several weeks to review your Medicare options for 2023. Particularly if you have Medicare Part D drug coverage or are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage private plan–a health plan offered by a corporate health insurance company–reviewing your options could save you a lot of money. Your Medicare Part B premium will be slightly lower in 2023, regardless of whether you are enrolled in traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.

In 2023, the standard monthly Medicare Part B premium, which covers medical and outpatient care, is $164.90, a monthly decrease of $5.20 from $170.10, for people with annual incomes of $97,000 or less in 2021. In addition, you will get a Social Security increase of around nine percent. The exact increase will be announced shortly.

• $230.80 a month, if their income is above $97,000 and no more than $123,000.
• $329.70 a month, if their income is above $123,000 and no more than $153,000
• $428.60 a month, if their income is above $153,000 and no more than $183,000
• $527.50 a month, if their income is above $183,000 and less than $500,000
• $560.50 a month, if their income is $500,000 or more

For couples with combined incomes of $366,000 or less two years ago, filing a joint tax return, the premium amount doubles. Couples with annual incomes above $366,000 and less than $750,000 each pay a $527.50 monthly premium. And, couples with annual incomes of $750,000 and above each pay a $560.50 monthly premium. Visit this CMS web site for your Part B premium amount if you are filing separate returns.

Medicare Part B annual deductible: $26, a decrease of $7 from the 2022 annual deductible of $233.

If your income is low, you may qualify for help paying your premium and sometimes also your deductibles and coinsurance through the Medicare Savings Programs: People with incomes up to 135 percent of the federal poverty level, ($1,549 in monthly income for an individual and $2,080 for a couple in 2022; these amounts may increase in 2023) are eligible for help paying their premiums through Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program.

For more than four decades, the Medicare Part B premium (medical insurance) was the same for everyone regardless of income, geography or health status, a quarter of the cost of Part B services. (Medicare Part A, hospital insurance, is premium-free if you have contributed into Social Security for at least 40 quarters.)  In 2007, wealthier people with Medicare began paying higher premiums.

Here are 2023 Medicare Part A costs:

• There is no Medicare Part A premium if you or your spouse have at least 40 quarters of coverage.
• The Medicare Part A premium, if you or a spouse has at least 30 quarters of coverage, is $259 a month; if you don’t have at least 30 quarters, the premium could be $471 a month.
• The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible is $1,600, in 2023 an increase of $44 from 2022, and  coinsurance for hospitalizations after day 60 is $400 a day in a benefit period; coinsurance for lifetime reserve days is $800 a day.
• The Medicare Part A daily coinsurance for skilled nursing facility stays after day 20 is $200.00, an increase of $5.50 from $194.50 in 2022.

If you have Medicare and are 36 months post kidney transplant, you are no longer eligible for full Medicare coverage. But, beginning in 2023, you can elect to continue Part B coverage of immunosuppressive drugs if you pay a premium. In 2023, the immunosuppressive drug premium is $97.10.

Medicare Part D premiums

Premiums for Part D prescription drug coverage vary by income and by Part D plan. The premium is generally deducted from your Social Security check. People with annual incomes at or under $97,000 do not pay an additional income-adjusted premium amount.

If your annual income is above $97,000, you will be charged between $12.20 and $76.40 a month extra. The extra amount is based on how much higher than $97,000 your income is, with a cap at $750,000.

Insulin

Beginning July 1, 2023, you will pay no more than $35 a month out of pocket for insulin. If you take insulin through a pump you get through Medicare, you will have no deductible.

Here’s more from Just Care:

• Social Security benefits should rise around 9 percent in 2023
• Health insurance industry continues to mislead on high costs of Medicare Advantage
• Drug provisions in the reconciliation bill should lower your drug costs
• 2022: Medicare out-of-pocket costs
• 2022: What will your health care costs be in retirement?