Medicare Double-Billed About 411,000 People Who Pay Part B Premiums Directly

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) admitted that a "process error" caused about 411,000 seniors who pay Medicare Part B premiums directly from their bank accounts to be billed twice this month, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . Fort Bragg resident Jade Tippett noticed two withdrawals of $135.50 last week when looking at his credit union checking account, and Medicare told him when they were informed that the error may not be corrected until Oct. 1. "The Treasury Department is working to reverse the duplicate charge," stated CMS. "Approximately 20 percent of the duplicated transactions have been returned by financial institutions, and if the remaining duplications are not returned by Wednesday, Sept. 25, Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service will begin to reverse the remaining transactions to complete the reimbursement." Medicare Part B monthly premiums range from $135.50 per individual for most beneficiaries to $460.50 for those in the highest income bracket. People receiving Social Security retirement benefits have their Medicare premiums deducted from monthly payments, and CMS said they were not double-billed if all of their premiums were deducted from Social Security. Medicare enrollees older than 65 who are receiving Social Security must pay premiums directly, with many deductions automatically made from their checking or savings account via the Easy Pay system. All beneficiaries who pay this way were double-billed.