Jun 5, 2008 12:08 PM
All our Medicare-eligible retirees and their Medicare-eligible spouses or domestic partners should receive their annual Medicare Part B reimbursement checks for 2007 as usual in August. This 2007 check is the first to be issued since the Bush administration’s 2003 legislation added a means-testing surcharge to the cost of standard Medicare premiums. John McCain, Republican candidate for president, voted for that means-testing legislation and supports means-testing for other Medicare benefits.
The means-testing of Part B premiums was one of the most controversial parts of the flawed 2003 Medicare modernization act. Medicare was designed as a universal social insurance program with everyone paying a uniform premium and receiving a standard package of benefits. For the first time in its 41-year history, Medicare now charges some beneficiaries more than others.
Neither version of the law originally passed by the House or the Senate even contained the means-testing provision. But, in the typically secretive nature of this Bush administration, the changes to the bill were negotiated by a handful of Congressional leaders behind closed doors and literally rushed through in the middle of the night.
Hoping no one would notice what they had done, the legislation did not impose the surcharge until last year, four years after passage of the bill, with the full cost of the surcharge to be phased in over three years. The full force of the surcharge won’t hit until 2009. The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium, which covers doctors’ services, diagnostic tests and outpatient care, for 2007 was $93.50 — $1,122 annually — for a single payer; and double that — $2,244 — for a couple. Critics of the surcharge, which will continue to grow each year and affect millions of retirees, warn that it will drive many retirees out of Medicare leaving only the sickest and poorest beneficiaries behind.
As I noted back in an October 2006 column when this outrageous piece of legislation reached the light of day — “Here we are, once again, watching as the Bush administration attempts to destroy another of the successful programs designed to protect American seniors, not exploit them.”
The UFT, NYSUT, AFT, AFL-CIO and ARA (Alliance for Retired Americans) have all been vocal in challenging this radical change to the nature of Medicare. The RTC immediately and unanimously passed a resolution citing the dangers of the legislation and noting that the new income-based premium is fundamentally at odds with the premise of social insurance.
To find out who pays how much more, the Social Security Administration reviewed the tax records of all seniors enrolled in Medicare Part B to determine the income bracket to which they belong. Retirees received a written notice from the SSA explaining how much they will pay in monthly Part B premiums in 2007 based on the SSA review of their income.
Hopefully the city will do the right thing in reimbursing you for the full amount of your Medicare Part B. The city doesn’t know who paid the surcharge so we expect they will have to include a form for you to fill out verifying your added premium charges. In the interests of efficiency, we hope that form accompanies your August check.
If it doesn’t, I’m sure you will let us know so we can act accordingly.
The challenge for us now is to elect a Democratic president and a veto-proof Congress so we will have the numbers we need to change some of the egregious legislation of the past eight years and to propose and pass new legislation that will be in the best interests of most Americans rather than in the best interests of a tiny fraction of the very richest Americans.
This is the final edition of the paper for this year and I wish you all a healthy, happy summer.