Social Security sets the cost of living increase for 2025 at 2.5%.
Social Security sets cost of living increase for 2025 at 2.5% 03:18
America’s seniors will pay more for their health care in the new year, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Part B plan premiums will increase by about 6% in 2025.
Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, preventive services such as vaccinations, medical equipment such as wheelchairs, as well as home health care. (Part A, which covers inpatient care in hospitals and other facilities, is premium-free for all but about 1% of beneficiaries because of taxes most retirees pay while they work.)
What is the Medicare Part B premium for 2025?
The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will rise by $10.30, or about 6%, to $185.00 from $174.70 in 2024, CMS said Friday.
Meanwhile, the annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will rise to $257 in 2025 from $240.
The premium and deductible increases for 2025 are due to “expected price changes and assumed utilization increases that are consistent with historical experience,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The premium was $164.90 in 2023, when the cost fell by just over $5 from the previous year, a rare decline.
How does this compare to Social Security’s COLA?
Medicare Part B premiums have generally outpaced inflation as well as Social Security’s annual cost of living adjustment (COLA).
Annual inflation rose 2.4% in September, while next year’s Social Security income rate is expected to reach 2.5%, or an average of an additional $50 per household.
What do high-income Medicare enrollees pay?
Given that a Part B beneficiary’s monthly premium is based on an individual’s income, wealthy Americans also pay the Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA, which affects about 8% of those with Medicare Part B, CMS said.
Those who are married and live with their spouse at any time during the year, but file separate tax returns with an adjusted gross income of $106,000 or less, will only pay a Medicare Part B premium of $185.00 per month. Beneficiaries with income above $106,000 but less than $394,000 are looking at an IRMAA payment of $406.90 on top of the standard $185.00, or $591.90 per month. Seniors with income over $394,000 will pay IRMAA $443.90 and the standard $185.00, or a total of $628.90 per month. How does this affect Social Security benefit payments?
Medicare enrollees who already receive Social Security benefits can expect the new 2025 Part B premium to be automatically deducted from their Social Security checks in January.
Those who do not yet receive Social Security benefits but pay Medicare Part B each month will need to make sure they pay the increased amount, starting in January.
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Kate Gibson
