Medicare has been a hot topic since April 15, the day that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 235-193 to approve a resolution that would privatize the Medicare system for younger people. While there is little chance the resolution will become law, it has greatly increased general interest in knowing what Medicare covers and how much it costs.

You can answer many common client questions on the subject by downloading a fact sheet from Medicare.gov, the Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare.

The fact sheet contains all updated 2011 numbers for Medicare premium costs, deductibles and coinsurance payments. You may wish to point out that the lowest Part B premiums (which the vast majority of seniors pay) currently has three tiers:

• $96.40 per month (the same as in 2010) for those who began Medicare prior to 2010 and have premiums withheld from Social Security.
• $110.50 per month (the same as in 2010) for those who aged into Medicare in 2010 and have premiums withheld from Social Security.
• $115.40 per month for those who age into Medicare in 2011, and for all those who do not have premiums withheld from Social Security.