Medicare premium protection bill stalls in Senate

Washington A key lawmaker blasted Senate Republicans for blocking legislation designed to keep Medicare outpatient premiums from going up for seniors next year.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D, Mont.) had sought unanimous consent to pass the Medicare Premium Fairness Act, which would freeze Medicare Part B premiums at the current rate rather than allowing them to go up by as much as 20% under current law. The House on Sept. 24 passed the legislation by a vote of 406-18. It was introduced by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D, Calif.) and Rep. Dina Titus (D, Nev.).

According to Baucus' office, Sen. Tom Coburn, MD (R, Okla.), objected to the unanimous consent request, which would have approved the measure without debate or a recorded vote.

"This legislation is a common-sense solution to protect seniors from paying dramatically higher Medicare premiums," Baucus said in an Oct. 7 statement. "Politics should not stand in the way of doing what's right for seniors, particularly in these tough economic times."

Due to provisions built into current Medicare law, more than a quarter of the 42 million people enrolled in Part B are due to see their premiums automatically rise to between $110 and $120 a month. The proposed legislation would keep premiums at their current level of $96.40 per month.

Seniors typically use their Social Security cost-of-living adjustment to offset annual increases to their Medicare premiums. Because the Social Security Administration is expected to announce that there will be no cost-of-living adjustment for next year, most Medicare beneficiaries are automatically exempt from an increase in the Part B premium under current law. But 27% of seniors are not exempt from the automatic increases, because they have higher-incomes, are new enrollees or are dual-eligibles who typically have premiums paid by Medicaid.