Journey into the New Year: Medicare Disclosures and the Golden Age Prep
Dec 04, 2023
Marcy Backhus
Ready to welcome in the New Year fully informed about the latest changes in Medicare? As the holiday season approaches, I, Marcy Backhus, take you on a cozy journey through my personal updates, from the festive spirit enveloping Chicago to the thrilling anticipation of a home remodeling project. But don't get too comfortable yet! The serious issue of increased falls among the elderly gives us food for thought, instigating a compelling discussion on adapting to the golden years and the potential role of home remodeling in accident prevention.
Now, let's get down to business. Brace yourselves for an enlightening disclosure of important Medicare updates that could alter your 2022 planning. With a slight uptick in inpatient hospital deductibles and Part B and Part C monthly premiums looming, knowledge is your best defense. On the bright side, Part D is expected to dip, and the proposed increase in Social Security payments might balance out the scales. Moreover, the proposal to exclude unpaid medical bills from credit reports could be a game-changer for many older Americans battling medical debt. Join me as we navigate these changes together, and remember, as we always say, "Aging is for Sissys".
Ready to welcome in the New Year fully informed about the latest changes in Medicare? As the holiday season approaches, I, Marcy Backhus, take you on a cozy journey through my personal updates, from the festive spirit enveloping Chicago to the thrilling anticipation of a home remodeling project. But don't get too comfortable yet! The serious issue of increased falls among the elderly gives us food for thought, instigating a compelling discussion on adapting to the golden years and the potential role of home remodeling in accident prevention.
Now, let's get down to business. Brace yourselves for an enlightening disclosure of important Medicare updates that could alter your 2022 planning. With a slight uptick in inpatient hospital deductibles and Part B and Part C monthly premiums looming, knowledge is your best defense. On the bright side, Part D is expected to dip, and the proposed increase in Social Security payments might balance out the scales. Moreover, the proposal to exclude unpaid medical bills from credit reports could be a game-changer for many older Americans battling medical debt. Join me as we navigate these changes together, and remember, as we always say, "Aging is for Sissys".
Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to the A-Binding Persistence Podcast. My name is Marcy Baptist and I am your host. Welcome. Today we have a podcast about this and that and that and this, and I just decided I saw quite a few different things I wanted to share. So this is the this and that episode. So hang in there with me and you'll learn a little bit about this and a little bit about that, and probably a whole lot of nothing. Sit back, grab that coffee, get that Diet Coke from the QT. I'm not going to forget today and share about what's going on with my life this week, last week, and we'll get into a little bit about it.
Speaker 1:
Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's December. This year's just gone by so fast. I can't believe Craig and I have lived in Chicago for 18 months now. My life is coming together here, which makes me really happy, but 18 months our second holiday season. Here. I'm sitting in my bedroom right now looking out over the city and it's dark, but the lights are all on. I looked down on Michigan Avenue and it's bright, and last night was Saturday night and the fireworks went off for the holidays. They do it during the summer, but during the holiday season they're setting off fireworks on Navy Pier. It's just very holiday-ish, I think. I think it's just beautiful, but I still can't believe it's the holiday season.
Speaker 1:
So this next week I've got a lot coming up. So Craig and I just got things moved around in the house. We're having all new tile put in the kitchen floor, all new counters, new sink. We already got new appliances this summer so that part's done, so they're going to be installing that this next week. Also getting a walk-in shower. I'm so excited about that. No door, just a glass wall with an opening and beautiful tile. And I'm just excited to not have to step over it in and out of a tub. And you'll understand why because we are going to talk about falling today a little bit. But anything we can do as we age to simplify our life, I think, is a good thing.
Speaker 1:
Craig and I live in a one-story building floor. Now we don't have stairs anymore. We do a lot of walking in the city which can be dangerous for falling, but it's healthy. I'm excited about this remodel. It's going to look great. Then we're all done here. The condo is complete, finished, fini, furniture, appliances, everything. I'm going to really enjoy it.
Speaker 1:
It's the first time for Craig Craig's, an architect by trade, and this is the first time ever in our marriage that we've ever remodeled anything. We've always lived in a house for about four years and moved. The last time we probably should have remodeled it couldn't afford to remodel it. We were in that house for 23 years. But we're doing it now and I'm pretty darn excited.
Speaker 1:
We have a great contractor. He is somebody that's done over 100 bathrooms here in our building so he's good at it. His crew knows it, they know how to do it, they know what the pitfalls are. So that's pretty exciting. So it should be done in 10 days. I'll let you know if that actually happens. I think it will. Everybody I've talked to in the building he's taken a week to 10 days and never more.
Speaker 1:
So all of our tiles and things are ordered and are here, all of our fixtures. So we're doing Black fixtures. So kitchen sink will be black, black Faucet, black faucet in the bathroom and black shower faucets and things. So I think it should look really good. White tiles beautiful on 24 by 24 tiles on the floor and those will go into the bathroom as well, so you won't have a lot of differentiating. Our black back splash will also be the tiles that we use to create interest in the shower. So it should all be cohesive. We have a small space and I think when you have a small space you should try to keep it cohesive. So that's exciting. I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1:
This week was kind of a quiet week. I Don't think I did very much. I worked out, did a lot of working out, so that's always good. Seem like, thanksgiving went fast and then here we had the last week of November and I oh Just, fast, fast, fast, let's see. I hope everybody is getting their Christmas shopping done, getting decorated. I did decorate early because I knew I was gonna be out, so oh.
Speaker 1:
So for this remodel we're taking the two cats and going out to Craig's mom's home. It's empty, Basically empty, and nobody lives there, and so we're gonna stay out there in the suburbs. And then I am this week going to California this upcoming week and my best friend and I are going to Disneyland on Friday. It's our favorite place and her and I both need a little bit of fun. So I'm making a quick trip out there to go to Disneyland, see all the Christmas decorations, spend some time with a couple other friends and come home, just a quick five-day trip, but it's nice that it falls right when we're doing the remodel, so I won't be around For any of that and the cats will be happy out in a house out in the suburbs for a little while. Craig's got a couple of two, a couple days trip he's gonna be taking. So not a lot coming up.
Speaker 1:
What about your life? Anything exciting things going on Than any Christmas things. We did a lot of Christmas things. We have a couple more coming up. We have the Morton Arboretum, so Morton salt. Obviously salt is important in the Midwest and Morton's home, his land, is now an arboretum, is absolutely stunning and gorgeous and they do a lighting out there. So we're gonna go out there for that and then, of course, zoo lights got to do zoo lights. So we've got that coming up. Alex coming in for Christmas he's gonna be here for three quick days, but I'll take it. I'll take anything I can get from the kids. Kyle will not be coming, so just Alec. This Christmas Sharon's gonna be home with the dog, so I get him a couple of days and then I'll send him home and we have a big family Christmas Eve planned and I think that's all that's been going on Feeling good, feeling healthy cats are doing good, crikes doing good, and let's just talk about this and that.
Speaker 1:
The reason I'm kind of doing this and that is there were a few things, some articles that I had read that I wanted to share with you all, and the first one is Medicare costs rise slightly for 2024. All right, so, like I said, there were a few things that I read today that I really wanted to share, and so this is why we're at this and that Medicare's 2024 changes. So let's talk about that. Part A is always zero. It was zero in 2023, it'll be zero in 2024.
Speaker 1:
Inpatient hospital deductible will now be go from 1600 to $1632. Coin insurance for 61st to 90th day, 400 now to go up to 408. So they're not giant increases. But depending on your budget, you need to know this part B so that was part A, which is your hospital. Part B, which is your medical insurance, is basic monthly premiums going to go from 16490 to 17470.
Speaker 1:
Income threshold for higher payment. So you know that if you have, if your income was higher, you can pay more. You might have to pay more. The income threshold goes from 97000 to 103. Income threshold for higher payments joint tax return went from 194 to 206. Part C, which is Medicare Advantage, average Premium, is going to go from 1786 to 1850 and part D is going to go from it's actually going down 5649. It's going to go down to 5550 and that's part D. So those are just some good things to know and note. If your, your Social Security check looks different, it's going to be because of those increases.
Speaker 1:
Now, with that being said, social Security payments are up 3.2% for 2024. So they rise that they give you more money. It probably cancels out I'm not depending on your payments so there's a 3.2% increase in their monthly checks next year. The Social Security Administration has confirmed that companies come I'm sorry that compares the cost of living adjustment cola of 8.7% the recipients received this past January. The change reflects a cool down of inflation over the past year. The SSA says starting in January the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit will rise by 55%, by $59, from about 1800 to 1900 and there's 19 for I'm sorry 1848 to 1907. If yours is higher, which I know is, ours is quite a bit higher than that, you know it'll adjust accordingly. The average disabled worker benefit will increase from 1489 to 1537. The COLA will be applied to veterans benefits as well as retire and retirement pay, as well as social security payments. Modest gains for 2024 will be partially offset by an increase in monthly premiums for Medicare, which I just said part, and we just went through that. So it's give and take, give and take, give and take. You know it's, it's how government works.
Speaker 1:
Another thing that I found interesting I'm sorry I said you know I don't like doing that. Another thing that I found interesting is there's a plan out that would cut medical debt from credit reports. Medical debt remains a serious problem among because our medical system is so fricking broken. We should not have medical debt the way we do. Nearly 4 million people over 65 owe about 54 billion in unpaid medical bills. The that averages to 13,800 per person, says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That's ridiculous. The debt can wreck credit ratings, making it harder to borrow money. But that could change under a White House proposal that would keep unpaid medical bills off consumer credit reports. And they're also talking about I'm not sure if it already passed, I need to check on it but student debt. If you're still holding on to student debt from your children, hopefully not from yourself Student debt is supposed to not go on credit reports as well.
Speaker 1:
The CFPB said in a statement that including medical debt and credit scores is unfair because of the high rate of mistakes in medical billing, and that is true. I have been. I've talked about this ad nauseam, I know, but when I came here and changed to it and HMO insurance, I am fighting every single solitary bill and I'll tell you right now I've won all of them. I still have more to go, but all the ones that I have come up across I have won. So be mindful, don't just pay a bill if you don't think you owe it.
Speaker 1:
We systematically see populations that are well covered, well insured, with high percentages of unpaid bills, says somebody, hector, somebody. Hospitals commonly try to coerce payments of bills by threatening people's credit status, and that's wrong too. So if they don't put, if they don't put medical bills on our credit reports, they can't threaten us with that anymore and it's ridiculous. First of all, we shouldn't be threatened with medical bills. You know people don't choose. It's not like you're going out and buying a car, you can't afford. A house, you can't afford. People don't choose to go medically into debt. It's not a choice, it's something that happens, and to punish people, for that is ridiculous. So I like this.
Speaker 1:
Here's another article that I liked more or not that I like. I don't like this article, but it's important. More older Americans are dying from falls, so what does that tell you? Our core strength or inner strength, keeping up our balance is super important, and sometimes you can have great balance and, like when I fell, you trip over a broken sidewalk. There's nothing that would have changed that. I was flying through the air before I could. Even I didn't even know what happened. So, but those things are important because more than 100 American 65 or older died each, each day, from falls in 2021. That's a big increase from 2020.
Speaker 1:
And I'm going to say that my feeling about that is I'm not blaming on the pandemic again. I think a lot of older people were stuck inside. They couldn't move around, they lost their their strength in their muscles and probably shouldn't have been walking without a walker. After that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 38,000 fall related deaths among older Americans that year, a 7.6 increase from 2020. The CDC says about 3 million people over 65 go to the hospital each year with injuries from falls. Did you hear that? 3 million Of us over 65, I'm not over 65 yet, but I've contributed to that number, I'm sure Go to the hospital each year with injuries from falls.
Speaker 1:
There are several reasons why falls become both more common and more dangerous as we age. Slower reaction time can affect the ability to recover from a stumble. Bone and muscle loss can mean a fall causes more damage. Larsening eyesight and hearing can make it harder to pick up on fall risk cues. Blood thinning medications can make it hard to stop bleeding, and other drugs can affect balance. Those factors can leave older people vulnerable to head injuries, which cause almost half of the deaths due to falls in the 65 plus.
Speaker 1:
And that's a separate study. So what does that mean? It means a lot of things. It means that we need to be mindful of what we're doing, we need to slow down and we need to be cautious. And I will tell you, as I after my big fall here in the city when we first moved here, I am constantly looking down, I look ahead, I look to see if there's anything coming up in the sidewalk, I look to see if it's a smooth sidewalk and I can relax a little bit. But I have major PTSD from that fall. Now one of the things I've noticed is with thinning skin and that I ended up with a bunch of stitches from that fall. I had pants on, I had a jacket on. I tore up my knee even through my pants. My skin is so stinking thin that any little thing in a fall is bad.
Speaker 1:
Take a look at your medications. Make sure you're taking them properly. Make sure, if you're dizzy, that you stop. I had a medication that for the last several years I'm off it now and I'm grateful. It was a water pill, a diuretic. It was making me dizzy, so I'd walk and I'd get dizzy and I'd have to stop and kind of go through the dizziness and I had no idea that was causing me all those problems. They put me through a ton of tests and one of my times that I was in Northwestern with one of my lovely infections, the cardiologist came in and said you shouldn't be on this. They took me off it and within a few days oh my gosh my whole body felt better. It was destroying me and making me dizzy. And what happens when you get dizzy? You can fall. So think about all of those things.
Speaker 1:
Take a look at your balance. Work on your balance. Go on YouTube, follow some. There's so many good people that do exercises for senior citizens. Simple things to keep your balance. When I'm in my water aerobics class, we do several balancing exercises in the water and let me tell you, after everybody's zzuzzed up the water and they have a stop and do balancing and that water is moving you. It's really a good way to work on balance. So if you have a pool and you're out there, work on your balance in the pool, get that water moving around and then try to hold your balance in that moving water. So those were just a few of the things. Keep track If you haven't.
Speaker 1:
If you're going to be getting Medicare and you need some information and some advice if you're going on it, please contact my friend Nita. Her information is on my resource page on my website, which is wwwagingaintforcissiespodcastcom, you can get the names of all the people that have come on the podcast. You can listen to all of my episodes from there. So the podcast wwwagingaintforcissiespodcastcom. Look up Nita on my resource page. She's my guru when it comes to Medicare and she can help you get set up.
Speaker 1:
Social security it's important to understand social security. The social security website has a lot of information. Get some information there and read that if you're going to be going on social security. Right now I don't have anybody that's an expert on social security and I need to get someone that is. There's a lot out there and there's a lot to know and a lot to figure out on that one, so I'll work on that. If you have somebody that you think would be great at talking to us about social security, please email me at agingfastoneatgmailcom. That's agingfastoneatgmailcom.
Speaker 1:
Going into the new year, I'm looking to have all kinds of new speakers and bring back some of our old favorites. We're going to work through the end of the year with a little bit of this and a little bit of that and what's going on. My life's a little busy so, with traveling and the remodel, but I always get you an episode, as best I can, every Monday. I hope everything's going well with you. I hope you are healthy. I wish you happiness and health. Life isn't easy. Just remember when you get to the top of the hill, it's all downhill from there and we pick up speed. So remember what I always say Aging for Sissy's.