By law, income from Social Security is guaranteed never to decrease. But seniors who rely on the entitlement every month for basic living expenses may see that real value go down anyway — as those beneficiaries who also pay Medicare drug premiums are set to face an increase of 5 per cent in 2011. The Congressional Budget Office, which got a lot of ink in the partisan debate on healthcare reform recently, is back in the headlines this time. Although the agency is nonpartisan, one can detect a subtle hint toward the left based upon their findings. The CBO expects Medicare beneficiaries would end up spending less on prescription drugs overall, because those higher premiums would finance an eventual shutoff of the much-maligned doughnut-hole gap in drug coverage; the legislation would save the government $30 billion from 2010 to 2019. Expect Republicans to jump on the fiscal-threat-to-seniors-on-Medicare bandwagon. | LINK

Related Posts Within Doctor Pundit:

1. Premiums in Medicare Advantage Plans to Increase Next Year As part of President Obama’s plan to decrease government reimbursements...
2. White House Budget Director’s Plan to Overhaul Medicare Spending Policy Irks Lawmakers An independent panel of sorts meant to develop payment, spending,...
3. Vermont: Seniors Should Return Government Checks to Close Part D Drug Cost Gap Beginning this week seniors should have already started receiving checks...
4. Medicare Prescription Drug Premiums to Fall in 2012 Prescription drug premiums under Medicare Part D will not be...
5. For Medicare Beneficiaries, Increase in Social Security Payments Tempered by Healthcare Costs The news Wednesday morning of a 3.6 percent increase in...