Except for people who became eligible in 2010. The lowest is now $110 and it scales upward according to your income
I became eligible in June 2010. The deductable is higher for us 2010ers too and the co pay is 20% not $20.00.
In addition, unlike most insurance plans, office visits aren't covered.
When your deductible is met, office visits are covered, just the same as everything else - subject to the 20% co pay.
I've had two office visits since becoming eligible in June 2010, not enough to cover my deductible. Normal office visit at my doc is $75 but they are only allowed to charge what Medicare would normally pay, which my doctors office told me that was $63.99 and that's what I paid for each visit, but I got a statement from Medicare telling me that I was credited towards my co pay $55 for each visit, which means somebody in that office committed a crime by charging me an excess of $8.99 per visit.
I will take that up with the financial division of my doctor's office at the first chance I get.
The laws changed for 2010 and some doctors aren't even aware of it yet.
The first time I showed my card to the receptionist, she said I wasn't eligible for part "B" because there was no "B" after my S.S. number, only an "A". I had to show her right on the card where it says I'm eligible for parts "A" and "B". Actually it says "entitled" to both parts but I don't like to print that word around here.
OOPS - I meant - co=pay 20%
With the 50 yrs of PRE-PAYING and then the monthly deductible from social security checks, office visits and 20% copay - with the monthly deductible jumping up each year - We've paid what any one is paying on their plans.
And let's not forget, that all those years we - and the match from our employers - were pre-paying, we were also paying on a private plan for current insurance.
We really need to to write our reps - many of whom don't understand this - and are leading the charge with the pubic against our ‘free ride’ - and explain this all. We have not had/are not getting a ‘free ride.’
If we had been allowed to put that pre-pay into a system like Texas people can choose to -like Bush proposed, we'd be fine...because our money would not have been embezzled...and the compound interest would have been added, not stolen...AND any that we didn't use, we could leave to our kids.
No one has ever siad 'free ride' to MY face more than once.