Medicare Premiums to Rise 17 Percent

[reprehensor]

Medicare Premiums to Rise 17 Percent

Fri Sep 3, 6:27 PM ET

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise 17 percent next year, the Bush administration said Friday. The $11.60-a-month increase is the largest in the program's 40-year-history.

Monthly payments for Part B of the government health care program for older and disabled Americans — doctor visits and most other non-hospital expenses — will jump to $78.20 from $66.60.

The premiums are updated annually under a formula set by law. The federal government picks up about 75 percent of the cost of Part B benefits and beneficiaries pay the rest.

The increase reflects rapidly rising health costs and last year's Medicare overhaul, said Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. For example, the law blocked a planned 4.5 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians and replaced it with a 1.5 percent increase.

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