Medicare Outpatient Premiums Down, Hospital Premiums Up in 2023

The standard monthly premium for Medicare outpatient, or “Part B,” coverage, will be $164.90 in 2023. That’s down $5.20 from $170.10 in 2022, the Biden administration announced Tuesday.

The annual deductible for all Part B beneficiaries will be $226 next year, down $7 from $233 this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. Medicare Part B covers medical services and supplies, preventive services, durable medical equipment, and ambulance services.

The cut follows a 15% increase in premiums for 2022, which was partly driven by anticipation that Medicare would have to pay for Biogen Inc.’s controversial Alzheimer’s medication, Aduhelm. Medicare later limited coverage of the drug to people in approved trials, citing unclear evidence of benefit.

That resulted in much larger reserves in the Part B account of the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund, which can be used to limit future Part B premium increases. The CMS recommended in May 2022 that excess SMI reserves be passed along to people with Medicare Part B coverage in 2023.

Premiums for inpatient hospital care, known as “Part A” coverage, will also increase to $1,600 in 2023, an increase of $44 from $1,556 in 2022. Nearly all beneficiaries don’t pay a Part A monthly premium because they have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment, according to the CMS.

The Part A hospital deductible covers beneficiaries’ share of expenses for the first 60 days of a Medicare-covered hospital stay. Next year, beneficiaries must pay a coinsurance amount of $400 per day 61 through 90 of a hospital stay, up from $389 in 2022.

For beneficiary stays in a skilled nursing facility, the Part A daily coinsurance for days 21 through 100 will be $200.00 in 2023, up from $194.50 in 2022.

Open enrollment for Medicare coverage in 2023 begins Oct. 15, 2022, and ends on Dec. 7, 2022.

The CMS also released the Medicare prescription drug coverage, or “Part D,” income-related monthly adjustment amounts for higher income beneficiaries whose Part D premiums are based on income.