Medicare annually reviews how well the coverage worked, the costs involved, and the spending. This annual review usually results in adjustments to the costs that are associated. Today we’ll discuss the changes that will occur in 2023 relating to Medicare.

Medicare Changes Taking Effect in 2023

In many cases, these changes are just minor cost adjustments, but in 2023 some other important updates will impact Medicare beneficiaries for years to come.

Inflation Reduction Act Effects

The Inflation Reduction Act or IRA was passed this year and proposed changes to the federal Medicare program. Even though the changes included in the IRA will be implemented over several years, some changes will begin in 2023.

One of the biggest changes is the insulin cap. Starting in 2023, participating insulin medications will cost no more than $35 for a month’s supply. This includes both insulins covered under Medicare Part B and Part D.

Another IRA change that’s taking effect in 2023 is the removal of the clause that keeps the Federal Government from negotiating drug prices. Starting in 2023, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services will be able to negotiate the prices for 10 of the most expensive prescriptions covered by Medicare.

Drugs that can be affected must have been on the FDA’s approved list for nine years or more and have no competitors.

Medicare Premium Changes

Medicare Part A and Part B both have monthly premiums. Most Americans receive Medicare Part A premium free and pay the standard Medicare Part B premium. For Medicare beneficiaries to get Medicare Part A at no cost, they must have paid Medicare taxes for 40 quarters (10 years).

For those who didn’t pay Medicare taxes for that time, the 2023 premium will increase as follows.

• 30-39 Quarters = $278
• 0-29 Quarters = $506

Medicare Part B’s standard premium is actually reducing in cost. It’s lowering by $7 from $170.10 to $164.90. Most Medicare beneficiaries will pay this amount, but there are some exceptions.

Low-income individuals can qualify for a Medicare Savings Program to help pay their Medicare Part B premiums. Beneficiaries that enjoy premium-free Part A will see their premiums decrease, while those who must pay for Part A will see a slight increase.

Medicare Part C Premium Updates

Medicare Part C is also called Medicare Advantage and combines your Original Medicare benefits into one plan. These plans have a $0 premium option in many areas. The 2023 nationwide average cost of a Medicare Advantage program is $18.

Medicare Part D Premium Updates

Medicare prescription drug coverage isn’t included in Original Medicare. To add this coverage, you must enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that includes it, or a stand-alone Part D plan. These plans follow a standard model outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The average premium cost for Medicare Part D is projected to be $31.50 in 2023.

On the other hand, high-income earners will pay an Income Monthly Related Adjustment Amount. This IRMAA is based on their income and will add a modifier to their Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. The IRMAA uses the modified adjusted gross income and begins at $97,000 for individuals and $194,000 for those filing taxes jointly.

Medicare Deductible Changes

Medicare has updated all its deductibles for 2023. The Medicare Part A recurring deductible has increased to $1,600, while the annual Part B deductible increased to $226. Medicare Part D also saw an increase of $25 to its maximum allowable deductible, which will be $505 in 2023.

Most Impactful Medicare Changes the Next Year

These changes will have bigger impacts on some Medicare beneficiaries than others. The biggest impact will be the IRA’s insulin cap and lower Part B premiums. A few will feel the Part A deductible and premium increases. However, most are enrolled in a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan, which won’t apply to most Medicare beneficiaries.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you have any concerns about the upcoming changes to Medicare? Are you excited about any of the impending changes? Will these changes have a meaningful impact on you?

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

If you’re looking for a beauty brand that can take care of all of your needs, look no further than Coco & Eve’s top-quality (and even TikTok-viral) products. To discover the Coco & Eve brand is to find a world immersed in the beneficial power of coconuts. The brand themselves says it is “totally coconuts about beauty.”

Coco & Eve combines powerful and tropical ingredients “into different ranges to provide amazing results and make your life feel like a constant holiday.” Winning over 21 beauty awards, the 100% vegan and cruelty free brand is no stranger to the beauty world. In fact, they offer hair care, skin care, and a ton of tanning products to satisfy your needs.

This Black Friday starts early with the brand, as you can head to Coco & Eve’s website now, you’ll be able to grab unbelievable deals like up to 50 percent off all of their products.

Courtesy of Coco & Eve.

Coco & Eve Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam

This incredible formula blurs pigmentation and perfects skin. Scents like tropical mango and guava feel luxurious and soft on the skin. The Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam is a lightweight, non-sticky formula that is fast-drying and develops in just two hours, leaving room for an even finish.

You’ll love how natural-looking the finish is, and have three different shades to choose from.

And the reviewers who have tried the product are more than satisfied with it, saying that the “The Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam always makes an appearance on a Thursday so the glowing tan is ready for the weekend! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the best tan I’ve ever tried – it smells incredible, no biscuity smell here and comes off so gradually and naturally!”

Head to Coco & Eve’s website now to take full advantage of all these Black Friday deals, which are running now through Cyber Monday.

Coco & Eve

Coco & Eve’s Like a Virgin Hair Mask

Coco & Eve

Coco & Eve’s Miracle Hair Elixir

Kristin Cavallari’s Black Crystal Embellished Dress on Her Instastories

Kristin Cavallari 2022 Instagram Fashion

Kristin Cavallari is back in black giving us the ultimate LBD look. This time of year everything sparkles including the fashion. So get ready to deck the halls your closet with a new black crystal embellished dress. Because even though this is just a LBD it has major BDE (Big Dress Energy).

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to Shop Her Area Dress

Click Here to Shop Her Additional Stock

Click Here For More Stock

Photo Credit: @kristincavallari

Originally posted at: Kristin Cavallari’s Black Crystal Embellished Dress

Nicole Martin’s Red Ruffle Dress on Instastories

Real Housewives of Miami Instagram Fashion 2022

Nicole Martin looked absolutely stunning in her red dress at the Vizcaya’s Enchanted Garden Gala (Lisa was there too!) over the weekend. And we’ve of course linked it down below so that you too can head into the holiday season looking just as ravishing in ruffles.

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her Aknvas Dress

Photo: @LisaHochstein

Originally posted at: Nicole Martin’s Red Ruffle Dress

Eureka! Finally! Science and medicine are catching up with the arts! Members of these esteemed communities are now acknowledging that creativity is good for you in the same way physical exercise and good nutrition is.

I attended what was called a Convening for Creating Healthy Communities hosted and sponsored by the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation and University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine a couple of weeks ago at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center in Orlando. Guess what I learned? An essential ingredient for a healthy community? The arts. All of them. Any of them.

Research Studies Validate the Importance of Art and Creativity

The arts focus our attention on one thing rather than the many that people are called upon to attend. The arts help relax the nervous system and can offer a respite from stress, giving people a break from fear and incessant to-do lists. Art doesn’t necessarily eliminate pain or stress, but it helps us take a break from it. It helps us cope.

I was in credential heaven. Speakers from the World Health Organization, John’s Hopkins’s Brain Science Institute, Duke University, the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), and many others discussed how the arts have the potential to change our biology – to lower blood pressure and enhance the immune system.

Aesthetic experiences have a restorative effect, reducing anxiety and stress levels. Beholding art also increases self-reflection and fosters perspective-taking and empathy. It was thrilling to hear about scientific research studies validating the importance of the arts. But the stories about the healing of art were even more compelling.

Hip Hop Music Is Used to Promote Health Literacy

A staff member from Hip Hop Public Health, based in New York City, described how the founder loved hip hop music so much he decided to use it to promote health literacy among young people, families, and communities of color.

Hip Hop music accompanies cool animated videos stressing the importance of hand washing, reducing salt, getting vaccinated, and eating well. Their message? Hip Hop Heals. Aesthetics make the message more accessible and understandable. Art can serve as a bridge to access hard topics.

Therapy Clown Performers Help Traumatized Children 

My favorite story was shared by Christopher Bailey from the World Health Organization. He described his visit to a Ukrainian refugee camp. The despair among the refugees was palpable. The children, fleeing their war-torn country, were greeted by clowns dressed in goofy hats and colorful clothes offering balloons and an opportunity for laughter.

For a brief time, parents enjoyed the squeals of delight from their traumatized children. What balm that must have been. These medical or therapy clowns are multi-talented artists, who are part of medical teams visiting disaster sites around the world. For a little while, these performance artists offered a respite so people could gather strength to carry on. 

A Trillion Dollars a Year Is Spent on Disease Caused by Not Living Well

David Erickson, with the Federal Reserve Bank, noted that a trillion dollars a year is spent on chronic diseases created by not living well. He argued the arts have the potential to heal and prevent chronic diseases. Feeling control over our destinies is the best indicator of good health. 

I felt like I had come home in the beautiful Steinmetz Hall in the Dr. Phillips Center (not that my home resembles this magnificent one-of-a-kind structure). The keynote speaker referred to the Hall as a “temple of shared attention.”

For a brief time, whether at Steinmetz Hall or some other theater or museum, there is collective attention focused upon art and some version of beauty. It’s a moment of time when people focus and imagine. This shared attention forms community. People are one in their shared focus.

Creativity Came to My Rescue at Two Major Points in my Life 

“I feel like I’m in a kind of Eden or Utopia,” I commented to my seat mates. I’m not particularly religious, but sometimes I feel like a creativity evangelist on a crusade to persuade people of the power of creativity to enhance or even transform lives. I know it has changed mine.

At two different points in my life, creativity rescued me from despair. In September 2001, extremists commandeered four airplanes, turning them into weapons and flying them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the pentagon. Layered on top of the terrorist attacks was a very stressful time in the life of my family.

During that fateful fall, as I was spending a lot of time in bed with the covers pulled over my head – watching too many episodes of Sex and the City and Antiques Road Show – I realized I needed a survival strategy.

A long dormant desire to teach at-risk kids to make pots instead of smoke pot began to take shape. And that’s when the Jeremiah Project was conceived. The Jeremiah Project provided ceramic arts programming to underserved middle school students for 18 years. 

The second point occurred following a knee replacement surgery when I awoke with foot drop. I was devastated by my useless, floppy foot. I experienced panic attacks every other hour during that time, fearing my foot would never fully function again.

Breaking up with formerly functioning body parts can pitch one into a dark place. I probably spent an undue amount of time in my bedroom, leg elevated, TV remote in hand when it occurred to me I could use this time “gifted” to me to write the book I had dreamed about for so long. So, I did.

My surgery occurred in the summer of 2019. It took me until the following January to rehab it. Then guess what? A pandemic engulfed the nations of the world in early 2020, thus providing more time to write from my privileged perch, sheltering in place at home. 

Creativity came to my rescue in both instances, a fact for which I’m utterly grateful. 

It’s Important to Create Spaces for Imagining and Creating

My conference buddy, Annette Kelly, and I agreed at the end of each of the two days that our brains were not capable of ingesting any more information. I was afraid some of the hard-earned facts or data points might begin trickling from my ears.

It was truly a point of validation and a little slice of heaven for this creativity evangelist. Just like gyms and places of learning, my new crusade will be helping create spaces and places for imagining and creating. It’s just too important.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you think creativity is important? Do the arts make up a substantial part of your life? Have the arts helped you in times of despair and feeling low?