The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just announced the new premium amounts Medicare beneficiaries will be required to pay to receive physician and hospital outpatient services under Part B in 2016.[1] These amounts are lower than they would have been had Congress not acted to prevent sharp increases for many due to a little known “hold harmless” provision. This provision prevents Medicare premiums from rising for certain individuals if there is no “Cost of Living Adjustment” for Social Security benefits in a given year—which there will not be for 2016—which consequently forces the beneficiaries not held harmless (approximately 15.6 million individuals) to pay a much larger share of the Part B cost increase. All beneficiaries not held harmless—those newly-eligible, dually-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, late retirees, and higher-income beneficiaries—will face a 16 percent increase in their premiums from last year.[2] The Part B deductible for all beneficiaries will be $166, up 13 percent from $147 in 2015. The Part A deductible for inpatient hospital visits will also increase for all beneficiaries from $1,260 to $1,288.

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[1] https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2015-Press-releases-items/2015-11-10.html

[2] The income ranges in the chart are for beneficiaries filing individual income taxes; for beneficiaries filing jointly, the income ranges are double the listed amount.