2010 Medicare Premium = 2009 Medicare Premium ... maybe (social security, federal, state, retired)

[GreenGene]

The House of Representatives has already passed H.R. 3631 (a 2-page bill!) that, due to the absence of a COLA this year, will keep your Medicare premium the same next year as it was this year.

The key sentence in the bill:

"The monthly premium under this subsection for 2010 shall be the monthly premium under this subsection for 2009..."

Now, most Medicare recipients would not have faced an increase in Medicare premiums for 2010 anyway. There's a "hold harmless" provision in Medicare that basically says that when there is not a Social Security COLA, there's no increase in Medicare premiums.

But there are millions of Medicare recipients who do not receive Social Security - they are primarily retired federal, state, and local government workers. Additionally, about one-quarter of Social Security recipients do not qualify for the "hold harmless" provision (see the "hold harmless" link above). If you fall into one of these groups, write/call/email your Senators and tell them to vote "yes" on H.R. 3621 ... assuming you don't want to pay more for Medicare next year.