Having medical insurance is recommended for everyone who is 65 or older. It helps you financially if you need to go to the doctor for a check-up and possibly end up in a hospital for a few days. Depending on which Medicare Plan you have, you might end up having some out-of-pocket costs.
Original Medicare Plans – Part A and Part B – provide you with sufficient coverage, but not everything is included here. A lot of beneficiaries are paying extra for the Medigap Plans, to fill in the gaps or the Advantage Plans (Part C and Part D).
In this article we will focus on pricing for each of the major Medicare plans. You can read more about Medicare Part A, Medicare Part B, Medicare Part C and Medicare Part D costs.
Medicare Part A Costs
Before we see the detailed price list for Medicare Part A, let’s remind everyone what it is included in this plan. In general, Part A covers Inpatient care in hospital, skilled nursing facility care, nursing home care, hospice care and home health care. This plan is also known as the Hospital insurance.
A majority of the Part A beneficiaries don’t pay monthly premiums for this plan because this was paid off through the Medicare taxes while they were employed. For those that do pay, the premium goes up to $499.
Below, we’ve listed the Medicare Part A costs for 2024:
Skilled Nursing Facility stay:
- $0 for the first 20 days of each benefit period
- $194.50 per day for days 21-100 of each benefit period
- All costs for each day after day 100 of each benefit period
Hospital stay:
- $0 for the first 60 days of each benefit period
- $389 per day for days 61-90 of each benefit period
- $778 per “lifetime reserve day” after day 90 of each benefit period
- $1,556 deductible per benefit period
Medicare Part B Costs
The Medicare Part B is also known as Medical Insurance. This insurance covers 2 types of services. The first one is medically necessary services. These are supplies that are needed to diagnose or treat your medical condition and that fall under the accepted standards of medical practice. Furthermore, this Part includes preventive services. In other words, Part B includes early treatment to prevent illness.
If you have the Medicare Part B insurance, you will pay nothing for the preventive services in places where Medicare is accepted.
In more detail, part B covers clinical research, ambulance services, durable medical equipment, mental health (inpatient, outpatient and partial hospitalization) as well as limited outpatient prescription drugs.
How much does all of that cost?
For most people, the standard Part B monthly premium is included and it is set at $170.10 for 2024. This has been a 14.5% increase compared to the last year, mostly due to the research of a drug called Aduhelm, used as an Alzheimer’s treatment. Despite the efforts to keep the monthly premium lower, the officials were reluctant to keep the price.
You will need to pay the premium amount if
- You enroll in Part B for the first time this year
- You don’t receive any social security benefits
- You’re directly billed for the premiums
- You have Medicare and Medicaid.
The price of the monthly premium for Medicare Part B depends on the tax returns as well. If your yearly income in 2020 was $91,000 or less, for example, you’d have to pay $170.10 as your monthly premium in 2024, which is the lowest amount possible. This is a tier system and the next category has a yearly income between $91,000 and $114,000. For those people, the price in 2024 is $238.10.
The next tiers include people who earn between $114,000 and $142,000, above $142,000 and up to $170,000 and over $170,000 and less than $500,000. The monthly premiums are $340.20, $442.30 and $544.30 respectively.
The final category is for everyone who earns over $500,000 per year. Their monthly premium is $578.30. It is also worth mentioning that there is a Part B deductible set at $233 per year.
Medicare Advantage Plans and Medicare Drug Plans – Parts C and D Costs
Last but not least, we must mention the Advantage Plans and Medicare Drug Plans. Medicare Advantage Plans are offered by Medicare-approved private companies, but they need to follow Medicare guidelines. There are a couple of Medicare Advantage Plans and they all include the Part D, which is used for drug coverage.
If you want to find out more information about Medicare Part C as well as the other plans, MedicareConsumer.com is the right place to go. Meanwhile, we will take a look at the pricing list for Part D.
The price of the Part D also depends on your income per year. If your income is above a certain limit, you will need to pay an adjustment in addition to your plan premium. The income limits are the same as in Part B. You can see more below:
- Up to $91,000 – Your Plan Premium
- Over $91,000 and up to $114,000 – Your Plan Premium + $12.40 per month
- From $114,000 to $142,000 – Your Plan Premium + $32.10 per month
- Above $142,000 and up to $170,000 – Your Plan Premium + $51.70
- Over $170,000 to $500,000 – Your Plan Premium + $71.30
- $500,000+ – Your Plan Premium + $77.90
These are the prices of three major plans – Part A, Part B and Part D (which falls under Part C) and for more information you can always visit the official Medicare Website.
These are private health plans that combine the coverage of Part A and Part B. Plan G Medicare good fit for people who are wanting coverage for hospitalization but are ready to pay the services, doctor visits, preventive services, and some home health care.
Also, if you are looking to enroll in any of these plans, you can do so with any agency that is allowed to sell Medicare.
