by Patricia Salber
First published 6/14/11 on The Doctor Weighs In
With all of the hullabaloo about health reform, the Ryan plan and other Medicare-related excitement, I somehow missed a major change in how Medicare is doing business – which is pretty funny since I have spent the last 5 years working for Medicare Advantage plans. Since January 2011, Medicare has been means testing the Part B premium. Even more amazing is that some of my most wonky policy wonk friends didn’t know about this – not mentioning any names.
Anyway, I found out in the rudest of ways – a letter from the Social Security Administration describing the impact of the new approach on my own premiums. It was a shocker for someone used to paying nothing for health care. (I know, no sympathy for me on that one.)
