Medicare Fee to Cover Costs to Rise 12.3%

Medicare beneficiaries will have to pay a monthly premium of $41.10 starting in January for the insurance that covers their doctor bills and other out-of-hospital expenses.

That figure represents an increase of $4.50, or 12.3%, over the $36.60 they now pay each month for the so-called Part B of Medicare.

The deductible will remain at $100 a year. After a beneficiary pays the first $100, Medicare pays 80% of the charges it approves.

The Health Care Financing Administration published a legal notice of the increase Monday in the Federal Register.

Last Tuesday, the agency announced that Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay a deductible of $696 for their first day’s stay in a hospital in 1994. That’s $20 more than this year.

Congress fixed the Medicare Part B premium rates for several years in advance as part of a deficit reduction law enacted in 1990. In January, 1995, the Medicare Part B premium will rise again, to $46.10 a month--a 12.2% increase.