Medicare Part B premiums will fall in 2023, the first year-over-year decrease in more than a decade.
The standard Part B monthly premium will drop to $164.90 next year, down from $170.10 in 2022. The new rate, announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Sept. 27, marks the first time since 2011-12 beneficiaries will pay less in a new year.
The 2022 rates topped 2021 figures by 14.5%, largely due to anticipated coverage costs of Aduhelm, an Alzheimer’s medication that cost $56,000 per patient per year before a 2022 price cut. Limits to Medicare’s coverage of Aduhelm announced this year resulted in “[l]ower-than-projected spending” on the drug, according to the CMS rate announcement.
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The standard monthly premium applies to those claiming less than $97,000 per year in modified adjusted gross income on an individual tax return, or $194,000 on a joint return. Other beneficiaries pay an adjusted rate for Part B coverage by adding an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) to the standard premium.
Details on the five IRMAA brackets, whose income levels are adjusted each year:
- Those with income from $97,001 to $123,000 on an individual return or from $194,001 to $246,000 on a joint return will pay $230.80 per month, down from $238.10 in this bracket in 2022.
- Those with income from $123,001 to $153,000 on an individual return or from $246,001 to $306,000 on a joint return will pay $329.70 per month, down from $340.20 per month in this bracket in 2022.
- Those with income from $153,001 to $183,000 on an individual return or from $306,001 to $366,000 on a joint return will pay $428.60 per month, down from $442.30 in this bracket in 2022.
- Those with income from $183,001 to $500,000 on an individual return or from $366,001 to $750,000 on a joint return will pay $527.50 per month, down from $544.30 in this bracket in 2022.
- Those with income above $500,000 on an individual return or above $750,000 on a joint return will pay $560.50 per month, down from $578.30 in this bracket in 2022.
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Beneficiaries who live with their spouses at any time during the year but file separate tax returns have a different scale: Those with income between $97,001 and $402,999 will pay $527.50 per month, while those with income at or above $403,000 will pay $560.50 per month.
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