Medicare Monitor

Medicare Monitor

The Palm Beach Post's veteran Washington correspondent, Larry Lipman, tracks policy makers and interest groups who are shaping the future of the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

Medicare Web Resources

Government

•Medicare
•Medicare Frequently Asked Questions
•Medicare Booklet
•Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
•Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

Organizations

•AARP
•America's Health Insurance Plans
•Brookings Institution
•Center for Medicare Advocacy
•Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
•Century Foundation
•Commonwealth Fund
•Families USA
•Florida 50+
•Heritage Foundation
•Kaiser Family Foundation
•Medicare Rights Center
•National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
•National Academy of Social Insurance
•National Center for Policy Analysis

Blogs
•AARP Issues Blog: Medicare
•Cato Institute Health Care Blog
•Entitled to Know National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
•The Health Care Blog

Medicare at a glance
Medicare is the federal health care system that covers about 36 million people age 65 and older, plus 7 million disabled. It has four parts:

Part A Covers inpatient hospital care as well as nursing home, home health and hospice care. Nearly all elderly and disabled Americans qualify for Part A coverage.
Financed by a 2.9 percent payroll tax divided equally between employees and employers.

Part B Covers outpatient care, doctor’s services, durable medical equipment, home health visits and preventive care. Part B coverage is voluntary, but roughly 40 million are enrolled.
Financed by beneficiary premiums and federal general revenue. Current monthly premiums are $93.50. Starting this year, individuals whose taxable income is more than $80,000 will pay a higher premium.

Part C Medicare Advantage managed care plans provide health care normally covered by Medicare Parts A and B. They may also provide some other benefits, including prescription drugs, not covered by traditional Medicare. Oart C is voluntary; about 7 million beneficiaries are enrolled.
Financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.

Part D Medicare prescription drug plans come in two types, those that just cover prescription drugs and those that cover drugs as part of a broader managed care benefit. Part D is voluntary. About 9.2 million beneficiaries are in stand-alone drug plans and about 5.1 million are in managed care drug plans.
The plans are private and financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.
-- Larry Lipman

RSS feed

• XML RSS feed for this blog

What's on this page →

A list of the headlines of every entry posted. Click the headline to see the full entry and any of its comments.

Categories

Recent entries

• House overrides veto
• Bush vetoes Medicare fix
• Bush will veto Medicare bill
• Kennedy vote breaks Medicare logjam
• Baucus: Gut sense of wiggle room on veto
• Reid: Senate will try again next month
• Senate slammed on Medicare vote
• More entries...

Home > Medicare Monitor > Archives

Archives

July 15, 2008

• House overrides veto
• Bush vetoes Medicare fix

July 10, 2008

• Bush will veto Medicare bill

July 9, 2008

• Kennedy vote breaks Medicare logjam

July 7, 2008

• Baucus: Gut sense of wiggle room on veto

June 27, 2008

• Reid: Senate will try again next month
• Senate slammed on Medicare vote

June 24, 2008

• AMA 'pleased' with Medicare bill
• AHIP Reacts to House Medicare bill passage.
• House passes Medicare bill

June 19, 2008

• Poll: beneficiaries oppose cutting Medicare Advantage

June 18, 2008

• Nursing home star rating system unveiled

June 12, 2008

• Competitive bid delay bill introduced
• Medicare bill falls short

June 6, 2008

• SHIP programs get $15 million to advise low income seniors

June 5, 2008

• New AMA ad aimed at Congress

June 4, 2008

• GOP Medicare package unveiled
• New rights for hospice patients
• Lawmakers urge delay in bid program

May 16, 2008

• The killer sofa and chronic disease

May 13, 2008

• Nursing homes say Florida could lose $62 million

May 8, 2008

• Medicare announces new protections

May 2, 2008

• AARP: Don't raise doctor pay on backs of beneficiaries

May 1, 2008

• Medicare to cover artificial heart tests
• Nursing home industry predicts cuts could jeopardize jobs, wages and tax revenues

April 30, 2008

• Competitive bid program to get congressional look

April 29, 2008

• Leavitt's cut-the-cake Medicare solution
• Leavitt: 'How much for that knee replacement?'

April 28, 2008

• 'Medicare: Drifting towards disaster'

April 24, 2008

• Senators seek meeting with Leavitt
• Lawmakers: don't cut Medicare-financed nursing homes

April 8, 2008

• Part D thresholds increase for 2009

April 1, 2008

• AARP launches 'Keep Medicare Fair' ads
• Doctors pay a House call

March 26, 2008

• Trustees report analyzed right and left

March 25, 2008

• Lots to say about trustees report

March 24, 2008

• Supreme Court rejects retirement benefits case

March 21, 2008

• Mayo Clinic head says Congress should get out of Medicare

March 20, 2008

• Medicare says competitive bids will save a billion

February 20, 2008

• Medicare says it could 'bundle' dialysis payments
• Leavitt: Wanna do a demo?
• Lawmakers: Hold off on doctor pay cut

February 15, 2008

• Martinez measure sets tougher fraud penalties

February 8, 2008

• Republicans: Medicare Advantage saves money

February 4, 2008

• Baucus: Bush's Medicare budget ‘DOA'

January 31, 2008

• Part D: 3.1 million switched plans
• Bush planning $91 billion in Medicare cuts?

January 30, 2008

• Private fee-for-service plans slammed at Senate hearing

January 11, 2008

• Wanna learn more about Medicare finances?

January 8, 2008

• New areas being covered by medical equipment competitive bid program
• Report: Medicare prescription plan's effect widespread

December 19, 2007

• Leavitt: Medicare a 'drag'
• Congress delays doctor cuts, AMA 'disappointed'

December 18, 2007

• Medicare bill summary
• Six-month doctor pay fix advances

December 10, 2007

• AARP to HHS: 'We're baffled'

December 4, 2007

• The $2 a month Medicare subsidy
• Kidney care advocates urge reforms

November 16, 2007

• Stark: questions about Part D shifts for low-income beneficiaries
• How would you spin these statistics?

November 15, 2007

• Part D open enrollment starts today

November 14, 2007

• Generic drugs keeping Part D costs down

November 9, 2007

• AARP: 'This is so ridiculous'

November 1, 2007

• Is Medicare Part D worth it?

October 22, 2007

• AARP ad focuses on Medicare Advantage

October 11, 2007

• Medicare updates prescription drug tool

October 1, 2007

• Premiums to increase 3.1 percent, lowest in six years

September 27, 2007

• Most Medicare beneficiaries to have access to cheaper Part D plans
• Satisfaction with Medicare call line drops

September 26, 2007

• Private fee-for-service plans OK'd

September 21, 2007

• South Florida accounts for half of Medicare HIV/AIDS costs

September 12, 2007

• Medicare says colorectal info corrected

September 11, 2007

• AARP: Keep Medicare provisions in SCHIP

September 10, 2007

• Cardin: Correct colorectal screening information

September 7, 2007

• AARP-AMA urge Senate SCHIP bill to include Medicare