Late Thursday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released what the monthly premium will be for Medicare Part B enrollees in 2024—and it’s not as big an increase as was feared by some.
The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $174.70 for 2024, which equates to a 6% increase of $9.80 from $164.90 in 2023. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $240 in 2024, an increase of $14 from the annual deductible of $226 in 2023.
“We are relieved to learn that the Medicare Part B increase in 2024 won’t be as high as we initially feared,” said the Senior Citizens League’s Mary Johnson. “That’s right in line with the amount estimated by the Medicare Trustees earlier in the year.”
In September, The Senior Citizens League forecast that the Medicare Part B increase might rise as much as $5 per month higher than the Trustees estimated, after CMS approved a pricey new Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi.
“We are only too happy that CMS proved us wrong on this one, and we hope any questions raised by our forecast may have played a small role in this unexpectedly early announcement of the Part B premiums and deductibles,” Johnson said.
Medicare Part B covers physicians’ services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A. Each year, the Medicare Part B premium, deductible, and coinsurance rates are determined according to provisions of the Social Security Act, and are deducted from Social Security checks for beneficiaries.
In a press release announcing the premiums, CMS noted the increase in the 2024 Part B standard premium and deductible is mainly due to projected increases in health care spending and, to a lesser degree, the remedy for the 340B-acquired drug payment policy for the 2018-2022 period under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System.
The increase in standard Medicare Part B premiums for 2024 comes off a $5.20 monthly decline in 2023 from 2022. CMS had cut the fee after lower-than-projected spending on both the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm and other Part B items and services.
Beginning in 2023, individuals whose full Medicare coverage ended 36 months after a kidney transplant and who do not have certain other types of insurance coverage can elect to continue Part B coverage of immunosuppressive drugs by paying a premium. For 2024, the standard immunosuppressive drug premium is $103.00.
Since 2007, a beneficiary’s Part B monthly premium has been based on his or her income. These income-related monthly adjustment amounts affect roughly 8% of people with Medicare Part B. The 2024 Part B total premiums for high-income beneficiaries with full Part B coverage are shown in this table on the CMS website.
Medicare Open Enrollment runs Oct. 15-Dec. 7, providing everyone with Medicare the opportunity to make changes to their prescription drug plans or health plans for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2024.
Thursday’s announcement of the 2024 Medicare Part B premium comes on the heels of the day’s earlier big announcement that the 2024 Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be 3.2%, raising the average monthly payment by about $57 per month.
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