Q: I will be retiring from federal service at age 58 with 35 years of service under the Civil Service Retirement System. I have been paying the 1.45 percent Medicare biweekly payment since its inception in 1983. Will this tax be deducted from my monthly CSRS annuity until I reach age 65? And, without 40 quarters of paying into Social Security, does paying the Medicare tax for 17 years qualify me for free Medicare Part A? A: Deductions for Medicare Part A are only required for those who have earnings from wages or self-employment, not annuities. The fact that you…
Browsing: Medicare Part A
Q: I am a 69-year-old federal retiree covered by a Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard Option 105 health plan as well as Medicare Part A. I recently spoke with Blue Cross about reimbursement levels for doctor care when I received a bill from my internist for $400 and Blue Cross paid $100. According to Blue Cross, I was responsible for the remaining $300 because Congress had passed rules (they may have meant that the Office of Personnel Management generated a rule, I am not sure) that limited the amount they could reimburse Medicare patients for a given procedure. When I checked…
Q: I am a retired postal annuitant on Medicare. I heard that letters were sent out in the spring inviting insurers to offer a health care supplement for people such as me, so that I don’t have to pay for a full-blown plan when I also have Medicare Parts A and B. I cannot find any insurers offering such a plan for 2011. Are there any plans being offered? Who offers them? Are there any fee-for-service insurers? A: I don’t know if OPM had any takers. We won’t know that until it makes its Federal Employees Health Benefits open season…
Q: My father retired from the Internal Revenue Service 20 years ago. He has Medicare Part A but did not take Medicare Part B and has continued his Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance plan. Until now, all bills had been covered by his Aetna FEHB insurance. Now he needs surgery, and he was informed that this insurance is secondary and Medicare Part B, which he does not have, is primary. Is that accurate? Why is he paying $16,000 a year for in private insurance if it is only secondary? Also, I got the impression that if you don’t take Medicare…