Wealth Pathfinder » Medicare

Coming Generational Storm available online

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 11:29:23 +0000

The Coming Generational Storm written by Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns is now available online.

It is one of the earlier works that really brought the issue of Social Security and Medicare funding over the next 50 years to the fore. The punchline is that at some point either benefits must be cut, taxes raised or some combination of both. While Social Security gets most of the attention it is the Medicare costs that are the bigger problem.

Unlimited health care is not a basic human right. For example, how much should the public be willing to spend to extend the life of an individual by an additional year. While people will argue about what that limit should be, a limit clearly must exist. With that said, one of our cultural values is that a “basic” level of health care should be a human right.

So the question becomes, how do you decide that dividing line between what should be covered for everyone and what will be available to only those who can pay. Right now this is defined implicitly by what Medicare and Medicaid will and won’t cover. I don’t see easy answers here but you can be sure it will be at the core of any debate on the future of Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare Part D Liability Dwarfs Social Security

admin — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:30:22 +0000

The additional liability incurred by adding prescription drugs to Medicare dwarfs the total liabilities for Social Security. This makes it clear that Social Security reform is not where the big action is going to be over the next 40 years. Medicare is going to be the major battleground. Much like the baby boomers remade the ice cream landscape (from 3 flavors to thousands), I expect the health care landscape to go through similar transformations in trying to grapple with these numbers. There is going to be some major soul searching ahead as to how much health care people have a “right” to.

Here is the full report.

2007 Medicare Part D Open Enrollment

admin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 20:40:18 +0000

Beginning Nov.15, it’s time once again for Medicare beneficiaries to decide if a Medicare Part D plan is right for them, and if so, which plan they will choose. The 2007 enrollment period, which runs through Dec. 31, also allows those who already have a Medicare Part D plan to choose a different plan if they so desire. Those people who are happy with their current Medicare prescription drug plan will not need to take any action during the open enrollment period in order to keep their coverage.

Visit http://www.medicare.gov for the details. The Medicare Rights Center also has a tool to help with comparisons,

2007 monthly premiums for Medicare Part B

admin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:05:18 +0000

Starting January 1, 2007, Part B Premiums will be Based on Your Income (Details)

You Pay	If Your Yearly Income is
	Single	*Married Couple*
$93.50	$80,000 or less	$160,000 or less
$105.80	$80,001-$100,000	$160,001-$200,000
$124.40	$100,001-$150,000	$200,001-$300,000
$142.90	$150,001-$200,000	$300,001-$400,000
$161.40	Above $200,000	Above $400,000

Medicare Part D plans updated for 2007

admin — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:56:22 +0000

Medicare has updated their website to reflect 2007 options. Remember
open enrollment starts Nov 15th.

Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Programs

admin — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:36:51 +0000

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 now makes this partnership program available to all states with 21 states already having enacted legislation to go into effect in 2007. The AARP article goes through the pitfalls of the program (it is not a panacea).

Four states, California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York, piloted LTC partnership programs that allow individuals who have exhausted benefits of their private long-term care insurance to access Medicaid without the same means-testing requirements as other applicants. In other words, if their policy provided $300K in benefits the Medicaid beneficiary would
be allowed to keep $300K of assets and still be eligible for Medicaid. To qualify, states and the insurance plans must meet extensive federal requirements outlined in the provisions.