National Seniors Advocacy Organization Predicts Means Testing
will drive Healthier, Wealthier Seniors away from Medicare

Medicare’s 5.6% Medicare premium hike announcement marks the beginning of a new era for Medicare. For the first time in the program’s 41 year history, seniors will no longer pay the same amount for the same health care services. Part B premiums will be subject to means testing, forcing more than one million beneficiaries to pay significantly higher premiums starting in January. Within three years, these higher income seniors’ premiums are projected to be double or triple the amount of a standard premium and even more seniors will be affected.

Congress’ stated goal for means testing of the Part B premium is to save money; however, the Congressional Budget office reports that means testing saves barely three-tenths of one percent of Medicare’s budget over the next 10 years.

Means testing will drive wealthier and healthier seniors out of traditional Medicare and into private plans, in fact, CMS predicts 50,000 seniors will leave in the first year alone. This exodus will increase overall costs, threaten public support for Medicare and not coincidentally, boost profits for private insurers. The privatization of Medicare began three years ago when the MMA was passed but most seniors don’t even realize its happening.

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and its 4.6 million members and supporters will continue to lobby Congress to: eliminate Medicare means-testing, use the $10 billion dollar industry subsidies to help close the doughnut hole, and allow Medicare to negotiate the lowest prescription drug prices for Part D beneficiaries.

An analysis of Medicare means testing can be found on our website at here.