By Michael Wald – September 21, 2015
Congress is considering a bill that would require postal retirees to enroll in Medicare Parts B and D or lose their Federal health insurance. Is this the future for all Federal retirees?
Medicare is facing years of higher costs. Costs for Medicare’s Supplementary Health Insurance (SHI), otherwise known as Medicare Parts B and D, are increasing faster than the general economy. Medicare Trustees estimate that Part B costs, which cover physician, outpatient hospital, and home health, will increase 6.7% annually until at least 2019. They estimate that the per capita growth rate of drug costs for Part D will exceed the growth rate of all other medical spending, despite the use of generic drugs.
On Sep. 17, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware), introduced the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency Act of 2015 (iPOST) (S. 2051). The bill requires postal retirees and their eligible family members to enroll in Medicare Parts B and D in order to continue coverage through the Postal Service Health Benefits Program –
More/Source: Will You Be Forced To Pay Into Medicare? : FedSmith.com
A section-by-section anaysis of iPOST: