Medicare Supplement

Every new year you will find changes towards the Medicare Plans benefits. This season there are lots of more benefits due to the new law that congress passed this year. The main one issue that affects most people are the premium for Medicare Part B. Since there is no inflation with no COLA increase for social security, premiums for Medicare Supplement Part B will stay exactly the same having a base of $96.04 (people with income under 85,000) every month that's generally obtained from the social security check. For people with incomes in excess of 214,000, the Part B fees are $369.10.

Part B may have a rise in deductibles if people have only Medicare without supplements or Medicare Advantage plans. Annual deductibles goes from $155 to $162. The Part An insurance deductible increases from $1100 for any 2 month hospital stay to $1132. For those who have supplements or Medicare Advantage plans, these changes won't affect you.

The prescription drug Part D donut hole can also get an additional benefit. The donut hole is of all Part D programs in which you lose copayments for brand name drugs. The donut hole starts at $2840 of annual costs and would go to $4550 before benefits pick back again in your Medicare. By 2011, any brand name prescription drug you receive should you fall within the donut hole, you're going to get a 50% discount on that brand name drug.

The final major change of Medicare Insurance for 2011 is free of charge maintenance screenings. This benefit isn't readily available for people on Medicare Advantage plans as their benefits are managed differently. However for people on Medicare or having a Medicare Supplement, they'll be capable of getting routine screenings free of charge (for example flu shots, pneumonia vaccines, cholesterol screenings, mammograms, cervical cancer screenings and bone-mass measurement at no additional cost).