Seniors Supplement to Boost Medicare Expenses for 2010

If all goes well in Washington, it looks like seniors getting social
security will get a check for $250 next year instead of a cost of
living increase.

Whether or not this will truly come to pass depends a great deal on
what happens in Congress over the remainder of the year and into the
first part of 2010. However, having said that, the Social Security
Administration has already served notice that is won’t be giving
recipients a cost of living adjustment in 2010.

For the first time in 35 years there will be no cost of living
adjustment, simply because there has been no inflation; a shocking bit
of information by itself, but when combined with the news that seniors
will not get the adjustment, the news becomes dismaying and financially
upsetting for seniors. This is one of the reasons why Washington may
step in and try and make a difference.

The truth here is that any extra money that seniors may have is going to buy prescription drugs and pay for Medicare and Medicare supplements,
both of which have increased in cost quite substantially. In light of
that particular revelation, politicians have seen a chance to make a
difference and are lobbying for extra funds to be given to seniors in
2010.

This “supplement” of sorts won’t come without a cost of roughly $14
billion, which makes one wonder where on Earth the money will come from
during this recession. Apparently it will be gleaned from slapping
Social Security payroll taxes on earnings between $250,000 and $359,000
a year. Currently workers only pay Social Security taxes on the first
$106,800 of their incomes.

While it’s obvious that this tax will not go over well with the
people who have to pay it, it’s equally as obvious that something needs
to be done to assist seniors in 2010, thanks to the absence of the cost
of living adjustment. The theory behind the supplement payment is that
seniors will spend it and help stimulate the economy.

There is no doubt seniors will spend it, and likely spend it on
health care needs that would include medications and topping off their Medicare supplements
for better health coverage. If you follow the news, you’ll likely
appreciate that this kind of an economic boost for seniors will be a
welcome relief as Medicare
Part B costs are slated to increase as much as 9% in 2010 with Part D
costs following along with an increase of about 11.1% for next year.

This extra help for seniors is timely and in light of bailouts for
banks and other businesses, it only seems fair to provide funds for
those most in need of decent health coverage.

Richard Cantu is with Medicare supplements resource, GoMedigap.com. To learn more about Medicare, Medicare supplements, or Medicare supplement insurance visit GoMedigap.com.