Dear Toni: In the new “Medicare & You” handbook, I cannot find what the 2025 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? — Carolyn, Memphis, Tenn.
Dear Carolyn: Every year the “Medicare & You” handbook is mailed out before Oct. 1 to to help guide beneficiaries through the annual enrollment period (Oct. 15-Dec. 7.) The handbook states that at the time of printing, the premium and deductible amounts for Medicare Parts A, B and D were not available.
The 2025 Medicare costs were released Nov. 8, with an increase for Parts A and B premiums and deductibles.
Here are those premiums and deductibles, as well as information on Part D changes that will affect prescription drug costs:
■ Part A costs (inpatient hospital): The Part A inpatient hospital deductible for 2025 will increase from $1,632 to $1,676. The Part A deductible starts over every 60 days, or six times a year. Skilled nursing is included under Part A, and the 2025 costs will be a $0 copay per day for days 1 to 20 and $209.50 per day for days 21 to 100.
■ Part B deductible (medical): The medical/doctor deductible will increase from $240 in 2024 to $257. After the deductible is met, Medicare pays 80 percent of the approved amount, and the beneficiary pays the remaining 20 percent.
■ Part B premium: The premium will go from $174.70 in 2024 to $185. Those with an income higher than $106,000 as an individual, or $212,000 as a married couple, will pay more, but the premiums for higher-income earners were not released Nov.8.
■ Part D deductible: The prescription drug plan premium will increase from $545 last year to $590.
■ Part D initial coverage: There are five drug tiers. 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.
■ Coverage gap: Effective Jan. 1, the coverage gap, or “doughnut hole,” will no longer exist.
■ Prescription Payment Plan: Medicare’s new Prescription Payment Plan is a new payment option for 2025. It can help you manage your out-of-pocket drug costs by spreading them throughout the year. For more information, visit medicare.gov or call your Part D plan provider.
Toni King is an author and columnist on Medicare and health insurance issues. If you have a Medicare question, email info@tonisays.com or call 832-519-8664.
