Seniors Overpaid Medicare Premiums By $13.4B In 2025. That's About $212 For Every Enrollee, Joint Economic Committee Estimates

<h1>Seniors Overpaid Medicare Premiums By $13.4B In 2025. That's About $212 For Every Enrollee, Joint Economic Committee Estimates</h1>
<p>Millions of seniors paid higher Medicare premiums last year because of overpayments to private insurers in the Medicare Advantage program.</p>
<p>Those excess payments increased Medicare Part B premiums by about $212 per enrollee last year, adding up to roughly $13.4 billion in additional premiums paid by seniors nationwide, according to a new issue <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/vendor/_accounts/JEC-R/issue-briefs/The%20Part%20B%20Premium%20Pass-Through.pdf">brief</a> released on March 10 by the Joint Economic Committee, a bipartisan group of lawmakers that advises Congress on financial issues</p>
<h2>Medicare Advantage Overpayments Raising Costs</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/medicare-vs-medicare-advantage?nid=51259734&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">Medicare Advantage</a>, also known as Medicare Part C, allows private insurers such as UnitedHealth Group <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/UNH?nid=51259734&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">(NYSE:</a><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=UNH">UNH</a>), CVS Health's Aetna <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/CVS?nid=51259734&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">(NYSE:</a><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CVS">CVS</a>) and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans to provide Medicare coverage, the committee said. Congress originally intended the program to cost less than traditional government-run Medicare.</p>
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<p>However, the committee estimates that in the last year the federal government paid Medicare Advantage insurers between $76 billion and $84 billion more than it would have cost to cover the same people under traditional fee-for-service Medicare.</p>
<p>Because Medicare Part B premiums are set to cover about one-quarter of the program's total costs, higher spending directly results in higher premiums for all enrollees.</p>
<p>“Let's be honest about the math, when Medicare Advantage is overpaid, that money doesn't just disappear, it shows up in the Medicare Part B premiums seniors pay every month, including those paid by traditional Medicare beneficiaries who are not getting extra benefits,”  <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/newsroom?ID=5F756B2D-F651-4CF0-A6FF-AAAC74C6B689">said</a> Joint Economic Committee Chair David Schweikert, a Republican representative from Arizona.</p>
<p>The brief estimates that covering a beneficiary in Medicare Advantage cost about 17% to 20% more on average than covering the same person in traditional Medicare.</p>
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<h2>Premium Increases Cutting Into Social Security Checks</h2>
<p>Those higher premiums are reducing the amount <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/25/05/45665342/social-security-is-the-main-source-of-income-for-retirees-in-these-10-states-is-your-state-on-the-list?nid=51259734&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">seniors receive from Social Security</a>. For most beneficiaries, Medicare Part B premiums are automatically deducted from their monthly Social Security payments.</p>
<p>The committee estimates that since 2016, Medicare Advantage overpayments have added about $82 billion to total Part B premiums. Of that amount, roughly $6 billion was paid by people enrolled in traditional Medicare who don’t receive the additional benefits offered by Medicare Advantage plans.</p>