Medicare B

What’s Covered Under Part B?

Part B provides coverage for the more typical medical expenses you may encounter.

• Doctor’s office visits
• Bloodwork
• Out-patient testing
• X-rays
• CT scans
• MRIs
• Stress tests
• Surgery
• Medical equipment
• Chemotherapy
• And more!

In short, Medicare Part B covers any healthcare bills that aren’t covered by Part A or Part D (prescriptions).

Deductibles

Your share of costs for medical expenses covered by Part B begin with a deductible.

The deductible for 2024 is $240. As a calendar year deductible, this means you are responsible for paying the first $240 of your Part B expenses for 2023. Once the deductible is satisfied, Medicare will pay 80% and you’ll pay 20% of Part B covered expenses. It is that simple.

The only downside to Part B is that there is no cap on the 20% you pay for Part B expenses. Depending on your medical expenses, this can get pricey. However, there are plans available that will allow you to significantly reduce your share of expenses that Parts A and B don’t cover, such as Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements.

But you’ll need to understand Part A and B in order to determine if, and which, of those plans best meets your needs.

Premiums

Unlike Part A, which is offered with no premiums, you will have to pay a monthly premium when you enroll in Part B of Medicare.

For 2024, the premium starts at $174.70 per month. The vast majority of people enrolled in Part B will pay the base premium. However, if your income goes up in any year, you could be required to pay an additional Income Related Monthly Adjusted Amount (IRMAA).

If the IRMAA applies to you, Medicare will notify you in a letter. If you believe there is an error in the determination you can contest it.

Each year on January 1st, the Part B premium is likely to increase. For 2022, the increase was $21.60, which was much more than the increase in previous years. In past years the increase was much smaller. Hopefully it will return to more moderate increases in the future.

Now that you understand Parts A and B, you might be asking yourself, “What about my prescriptions? Where do those come in?” The answer is Part D and the infamous “donut hole.”

If you need help, please call (407) 497-6287 or email me at kenbrown@floridamedicarespecialists.com.