Medicare & You 2010 Advisory

The Medicare & You 2010 handbook has been mailed to seniors currently on Medicare. In the Medicare Costs section of the new handbook, some of the material, although technically correct, may be confusing.

On Page 123, the Part B monthly premiums for higher income seniors are listed as "N/A" because those amounts weren't available at the time of printing. However, on Pages 124 & 125, instead of indicating the 2010 costs for hospital stays and skilled nursing home stays and the Part B deductible were unavailable, the costs for 2009 are listed.

The correct 2010 Part B deductible and the costs for hospital stays and skilled nursing facility stays in 2010 can be viewed by going to www.medicare.gov and clicking on Medicare Premiums & Coinsurance Rates under the What's New for Medicare column. In 2010, for example, the Part B deductible for covered services or items will be $155, not the $135 amount shown on Page 125 of the new handbook. We recommend that you print out this material and keep it with your Medicare & You 2010 handbook.

For more information, consult the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov or call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE.