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Hello Toni:

In the new Medicare & You Handbook that I received about a month ago, I cannot find what the 2025 Medicare costs and premiums will be. I would like to know this information because I have been diagnosed with a heart condition and will need to undergo heart surgeries next year. I have looked online and cannot find the costs.

Do you have any idea what the 2025 Medicare costs will be? Thank you.

--Carolyn from Memphis, Tenn.

Hello Carolyn:

Every year the Medicare & You handbook is mailed out before Oct. 1 to all Medicare beneficiaries to help guide them through the Medicare Annual Enrollment (AEP) period which ends December 7. The handbook states that at the time of printing, the premiums and deductible amounts for Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D were not available.

The 2025 Medicare costs were released by CMS (Medicare) last Friday, Nov. 8, with an increase for both Medicare Parts A and B premiums and deductibles.

Below are the 2025 Medicare Part A and B premiums and deductibles, as well as information on the 2025 Medicare Part D changes that affect Medicare’s Part D prescription drug costs.

2025 Medicare Parts A and B premiums and costs:

-- Part A Costs (Inpatient Hospital): The new 2025 Part A inpatient hospital deductible will be an increase of $44 from $1,632 in 2024 to $1,676, for 2025. The Part A deductible starts over every 60 days. It is not a once-a-year deductible but six times a year. Skilled Nursing is included under Part A, and the 2025 costs will be $0 copay per day for days 1-20, and days 21- 100 will be $209.50 per day.

-- Part B Costs (Medical): The new 2025 Part B medical/doctor deductible will increase by $17 from $240 deductible in 2024 to $257 beginning Jan. 1, 2025. After the deductible is met, Medicare pays 80% of the Medicare-approved amount and the Medicare beneficiary pays the remaining 20% of the Medicare-approved amount.

-- Part B Premium: The premium for 2025 has an increase of $10.30 from $174.70 in 2024 to $185.00 beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Those with an income higher than $106,000 as an individual or $212,000 as a married couple will pay more for their Medicare Part B premium beginning Jan. 1, 2025. The Part B IRMAA premiums for higher income earners were not released on Nov.8.

2025 Medicare Part D costs and co-pays:

-- Initial Deductible: will increase by $45 from $545 in 2024 to $590 Jan. 1, 2025.

-- Initial Coverage: has 5 drug-tier stages; the Part D plan pays its share of the cost of your drugs, and you pay your share until the maximum amount of $2,000 out-of-pocket is met. Then you move into the Catastrophic Coverage stage and pay $0.

-- Total Out-of-Pocket: Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the Donut Hole (Coverage Gap) will no longer exist, and your maximum out-of-pocket will be $2,000.

-- Jan. 1 of each year, the process starts all over again with a new Medicare Prescription Drug plan and new initial deductible and maximum initial coverage limit.

Medicare’s new Prescription Payment Plan is a new payment option that begins Jan.1,2025. The Payment Plan can help you manage your out-of-pocket drug costs by spreading your monthly prescription drug costs throughout the year from January-December. For more information about the payment plan, visit www.medicare.gov or call your Medicare Part D plan provider.

Explore your options during AEP, because with Medicare, it’s what you DON’T know that will hurt you!

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Toni King is an author and columnist on Medicare and health insurance issues. She has spent nearly 30 years as a top sales leader in the field. For a Medicare checkup, call the Toni Says call center at (832) 519-8664 or email info@tonisays.com regarding your Medicare plans and options. Toni Says Medicare Survival Guide Advanced edition is available at www.tonisays.com.

Copyright 2024 Toni King, Distributed by Counterpoint Media