Congress passed a bill with big changes to Medicare you may not have heard about…

Starting in 2020, the Medicare Supplement Plan C and Plan F will no longer be available for those NEW to Medicare.

What happened: With broad bipartisan support, Congress passed the Medicare “doc fix” in April. The bill focused on fixing the way Medicare pays physicians, and included big changes to the current Medicare system.

Why: The bill’s primary purpose was to prevent doctors from getting a 21% pay cut, and to overhaul the physician payment formula that Medicare uses. By 2020, Medicare beneficiaries will pay for the Part B deductible on their own.

When: The bill was passed in April. It will go into effect in 2020, but Part B premiums will likely see a small rise next year.

What does it mean: There are three major changes for Medicare beneficiaries:

Those will higher incomes will pay higher premiums. This is expected to affect only 2% of Medicare users– individuals with current incomes of $133,500 or higher, and couples with current incomes of $267,000 or higher.

Everyone will pay higher Part B premiums. The Medicare “doc fix” will increase all program costs. Medicare users’ premiums are required to cover 25% of Part B costs, so Part B premiums have to increase to fill that quota.

Supplemental Medicare Plans will no longer cover Part B deductibles. The C plan and the F plan are the only plans that cover the Part B deductible, so they will no longer be offered in current form to NEW Medicare users.
If you have the C or F plan, you do not need to change your plan just yet. You will not lose your current plan. The C and F plans will not be available to NEW beneficiaries in 2020.