WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama‘s latest plan to raise monthly Medicare premiums for upper-income retirees would significantly expand the number who would be expected to pay more..
Details are in a table the administration released Friday after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified at a budget hearing in Congress.
Starting in 2017, there would be nine income brackets on which the higher premiums would be charged. There are only four now.
This year’s version of the plan would raise $50 billion over 10 years, a significant increase from what Obama proposed last year.
If the plan were in effect today, a retiree making $85,000 would pay nearly $168 a month for outpatient coverage, compared to $146.90 currently.
Republicans are interested, but most Democrats don’t like the plan.
