Sep 25, 2009

Bill Passes House On Medicare Premiums

This happened fast! From Congressional Quarterly:

The House on Thursday passed a bill that would prevent Medicare premiums from rising sharply for about 11 million senior citizens.

The vote was 406-18.

The legislation would block a big increase in Medicare Part B premiums for the affected seniors, who account for about 27 percent of those enrolled in the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

They are in jeopardy of a steep increase in their monthly premiums because of complexities in federal law and the likelihood that Social Security recipients won't get a bump in their benefits next year to cover the cost of the premium increase. ...

The Senate is expected to act on the premium bill soon.

The bill would cost $2.8 billion and would be offset by reducing the Medicare Improvement Fund, which the Health and Human Services Department uses to make improvements to Medicare Part A and Part B.

1 comment:

Nancy Ortiz said...

That was fast. First I saw of such a bill was yesterday on Huff PO or some such blog, but today, it's out of the House. Then, it meets up with Dodd's Senate bill giving seniors $250. Something tells me that this bill will meet with detailed scrutiny in conference. Too simple by half.