Finally, we just got the announcement for Social Security beneficiaries. This is an announcement we’ve been waiting for for a very long time now, and we just got it a short time ago. I have all the details and what you need to know right here on this topic. Let’s get right into it.
All right Now, this is a very important announcement that we’ve been waiting for about six weeks now, and we finally just got that announcement moments ago. And I do want to talk you through all the details about this because it will directly impact about 63 million Social Security beneficiaries. A lot of people, Therefore, I want to keep you posted with this and we just got the announcement.
So let’s get into it and discuss all the details, however, really fast, before we do. Thank you so much for joining me. If you’re new here or if you haven’t done so yet, make sure to subscribe by hitting the button right down below the video. As I’m watching everything very closely each and every day so that when big announcements just like this pop up on the wire, I’m right here for you breaking it all down and letting you know how this is going to impact us in a good or potentially even bad way. I need to make sure that you’re staying updated.
With everything going on right now, things are changing very rapidly. And my dedication as your one and only daily advocate is to be here right by your side, keeping you updated and helping you grab as much money, benefits, programs, checks, stimulus, and anything else that may be popping up right here, right now for the low income and fixed income beneficiaries.
All right, let me quickly give you the background on this, And then, of course, I will get right into that announcement that was just made a short time ago. And I’ll let you know what this actually means for the 63 plus million beneficiaries that this will directly impact. All right So remember, a number of months ago, in fact, it was late last year, and the Medicare Part B premium was announced. 14.5% is how much they were going to be raising the Medicare Part B premium. Well, then a short time after that, they found out that this was actually going to be raised at such a huge percentage, mostly because of that very expensive Alzheimer’s prescription that was going to be costing about $56,000 per patient per year. Well, we had a number of lawmakers coming out calling on the Health and Human Services Secretary to lower the Medicare Part B premium for all of these beneficiaries. Again, 63 million people receiving Social Security and Medicare Part B benefits going forward in 2022.
Well, as always, they took forever to do anything about it. And ultimately, they were supposed to get back to everybody here at the early portion of 2022. Well, they set a timeline as of early April. Actually, it was about mid April is when they were supposed to be coming out with an official announcement out of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on their final decision of whether they were going to cover this very expensive Alzheimer’s prescription. Well, a few days before the deadline, they came out and announced that they were only going to be covering it for select patients going forward.
Well, as a result of that, then they were really calling on the reduction in the Medicare Part B premium going forward in 2022 because of the about $21 raised to the Medicare Part B premium for 2022. About $11 of that was accounting for collecting money up front to pay for this very expensive Alzheimer’s prescription. However, here’s the thing. Since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was only going to be covering this prescription item on a very limited basis for those patients who would enroll in clinical trials, then there were additional calls to actually reduce the Medicare Part B premium. So we’ve been waiting, waiting and waiting and waiting, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the Health and Human Services Secretary to come out and give us an official announcement on when they’re going to lower the Medicare Part B premium this year in 2022, because we’re all paying about $21, almost $22 more per month this year than what we were all paying last year in 2021.
Now here’s the thing. We’ve been wondering. When are they going to do it? How much is the reduction going to be? Are we going to get some kind of retroactive reimbursement?
Well, we’ve been waiting and finally, we just got the announcement today. Let me talk you through the details about this, and I’m going to do my best to bite my tongue during this. Okay. I’m going to tell you what was said, but at the same time, I’m going to try to keep my opinions out of this.
All right, So here’s what happened. A short time ago, the Health and Human Services Secretary came out and announced that as far as the Medicare Part B premium goes, they will be making the adjustments to decrease the Medicare Part B premium going forward. Unfortunately, it’s going to be next year. Yes, you heard that correctly. They’re not going to be doing it this year, but rather they’re going to wait all the way until next year, 2023 to adjust the Medicare Part B premium lower as a result of this decision out of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Secretary also went on to say that because of legal and operational hurdles, it’s not feasible to lower that Medicare Part B premium this year in 2022, but rather, they need to drag their feet all the way out until 2023, and that’s when they’re going to do it. So they also went on to say that they are committed to lowering healthcare costs and they’re looking forward to making this adjustment Okay. I’m going to go out on a little bit of a limb here. And again, we might need to revisit this topic in about five and a half months from now when they come out and announce the official raise to Medicare Part B premiums, which usually happens in early to mid-November time.
So we may need to come back to this topic and revisit this. I’m going to go out on a limb right here. By the time that comes around, I have a weird suspicion that they may forget about this little adjustment they’re going to make, or the adjustment is going to be so minor that it’s not going to have any impact to the Medicare Part B premium going forward in 2023. So I’m going to say this much. I’m really disappointed by this announcement.
Here’s the thing. We’ve all been paying nearly $22 more every single month for Medicare Part B premiums this year in 2022 for something that’s probably not really going to happen. I mean, here’s the thing. They lowered the cost of that prescription for those Alzheimer’s patients from $56,000 a year per patient down to $28,000. They slashed the price in half by 50%.
Well, then as a result of the announcement out of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, they were originally going to be about 1.5 million patients that would have been getting this prescription would have been very expensive. Right But then again, they said that it’s only going to cover about 10% of those people now because of those individuals needing to be enrolled in a clinical trial in order to get it. So that lowers it down from 1.5 million down to about 150,000 patients. So as we can see here, 63 million Medicare Part B beneficiaries are paying an extra $11 every single month throughout the entire course of 2022 to pay for this prescription item, and only about 150,000 patients are going to get it.
So I don’t know. Something here seems really fishy to me, and it doesn’t really seem to make sense as far as the numbers go. And remember, they’re estimating 1500 patients would be eligible to receive this, provided they’re actually enrolled in those clinical trials. Will they actually enroll? I don’t know that.
You know what I mean? That’s going to be up to the patients and the families and obviously those people to decide on their own and the doctors. But anyway, so as you can probably tell, I’m Super disappointed by this. We were looking forward to some type of little reprieve to the Medicare Part B premium going forward through the 22 through the rest of this year, and potentially even getting some kind of retroactive payback for all the extra benefits that we’ve been paying throughout the entire course of 2022 so far. Well, unfortunately, that’s not going to be happening.
Like I said, the Secretary even went on to say, because of legal and operational hurdles, it’s not feasible. Really. I mean, seriously, we can’t figure out how to do that. I don’t know. I’m just not buying it.
So anyway, that’s what is going on right now. This announcement just came out today. We’ve been waiting for this announcement since about early to mid April, right around April 11 is when we’ve been waiting for this announcement. So it’s been what, about six weeks now that we’ve been waiting for this thing? And finally we just got it now to say, oh, just kidding.
We’re going to wait until next year. We promise we’ll make it up to you. Really? Can we get that in writing? What’s it going to be, right.
That’s another thing we don’t know. We have no clue what this little adjustment is going to be. I have a weird suspicion. Once again, the adjustment on this thing is probably going to be like $50. I mean, seriously, it’s probably going to be so insignificant that it’s going to be like, you’ve got to be kidding me, right?
So if there’s actually going to be an adjustment going forward in 2023 to account for all of the extra premiums that we’re paying this year, in 2022, I would have to imagine that the Medicare Card B premium will go down next year. Right? We could only logically think that. Yeah, right. I’d be nuts to actually believe that.
So anyway, I don’t know. I’m super disappointed by this. I was actually very encouraged at thinking that they were actually going to do this. But seriously, who am I kidding? I should have known better to think that they were actually going to reduce the premium going forward this year.
I should have known better. I guess I was just having my hopes up for something good for all of you right here in this community, thinking that maybe we’re going to get a little bit of relief on the Medicare Part B premium from that huge, massive raise that they actually implemented back in or that they announced, I should say back in November of last year, 14.5% or $21 or actually, it was more than $21 for the premium every single month. Wow. Anyway, this announcement just came out a short time ago. As I’ve always said, I’m watching The Wire closely every single day.
I’m looking through tons and tons of information every single day. Anytime that I come across announcements like this, I want to be right back here for you breaking it down so that you can hear it first right here on this site.
