Each year, Medicare makes changes to your premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts. Here’s a quick guide to the Medicare 2024 changes. For a comprehensive guide to Medicare, check out this post.
Medicare Part A 2024
Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, hospice, inpatient rehabilitation, and some home health care services. Around 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries do not pay a Part A premium, since they have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment, as determined by the Social Security Administration. The requirements for your premiums being covered have not changed.
Here are the Part A changes for 2024.
- The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible will be $1,632 in 2024, an increase from $1,600 in 2023.
- The Part A inpatient hospital deductible covers beneficiaries’ share of costs for the first 60 days of Medicare-covered inpatient hospital care. In 2024, you must pay $408 per day for days 61-90 of a hospitalization, up from $400 in 2023.
- You will pay $816 per day for lifetime reserve days (up from $800 in 2023).
- For those in skilled nursing facilities, the daily coinsurance for days 21-100 will be $204.00 (up from $200.00 in 2023).
- Part A now covers inpatient mental health care services you get in a hospital.
Medicare Part B
Medicare Part B covers doctors’ appointments, outpatient hospital services, home health, medical equipment, and other things that are not covered by Part A. Here are the changes for 2024.
- The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B will be $174.70 for 2024, up from $164.90 in 2023.
- The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $240 in 2024, an increase of $14 from $226 in 2023.
- Beginning in 2023, individuals whose full Medicare coverage ended 36 months after a kidney transplant and who do not have certain other types of insurance coverage can elect to continue Part B coverage of immunosuppressive drugs by paying a premium. For 2024, the standard immunosuppressive drug premium is $103.00.
- Medicare now covers monthly services for people living with chronic pain (persistent or recurring pain lasting longer than 3 months). The Part B deductible and coinsurance apply.
- Medicare now covers mental health care services provided by marriage & family therapists and mental health counselors.
- It also covers intensive outpatient program services provided by hospitals, community mental health centers, federally qualified health centers, and Rural Health Clinics.
Your Part B premium is based on your income. If you file an individual tax return and your individual gross yearly income is less than $103,000, or you file jointly and your joint gross yearly income is less than $206,000, your premium will be the standard of $174.50. If you make more than this, your premium will be higher according to a tiered system.
Medicare Part D 2024
Medicare Part D is optional and offers coverage for prescriptions. If you have Part D coverage, here are the changes in 2024:
- Once your out-of-pocket prescription spending in 2024 reaches $8,000, (including certain payments made by other people or entities, including Medicare’s Extra Help program, on your behalf), you won’t have to pay a copayment or coinsurance for covered Part D drugs for the rest of the calendar year.
- In 2024, Your Medicare drug plan can’t charge you more than $35 for a one-month supply of each insulin product Part D covers, and you don’t have to pay a deductible for it.
- If you take insulin through a traditional pump that’s covered under Medicare’s durable medical equipment benefit, that insulin is covered under Medicare Part B. You won’t pay more than $35 for a month’s supply and the Medicare deductible no longer applies.
- Almost all recommended adult vaccines are now free for Part D beneficiaries, including shingles, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Other Changes
There are a few other changes to Medicare coverage in 2024, including:
- Changes to telehealth coverage. Through December 31, 2024, you can get telehealth services at any location in the U.S., including your home. After this period, you must be located in a rural area for most telehealth services. However, you’ll still be able to get certain Medicare telehealth services (like home dialysis, mobile stroke unit, services for substance abuse disorders, behavioral health services, medical nutrition therapy, and diabetes self-management training) without being in a rural health care setting. You pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for your doctor or other health care provider or practitioner’s services. The Part B deductible applies. For most of these services, you’ll pay the same amount you would if you got the services in person.
- If you recently lost Medicaid and you now qualify for Medicare, but didn’t sign up for Medicare when you first became eligible, you may be able to sign up for Part A and Part B without paying a late enrollment penalty. If you already have Medicare but lost Medicaid, you also have coverage options. For more information, check out the “Losing Medicaid?” fact sheet.
Sources: CMS.gov, Medicare.gov
