Medicare and the Fiscal Cliff
January 14, 2013
[Your Name Here] in Health Care Reform, Medicare

As we ended 2012, the congressional budget talks dominated the political discussion.  The impending "Fiscal Cliff" that we were set to topple off on January 1st, 2013 was on the minds of everyone and even threatened to overshadow New Year's celebrations (say it ain't so!).  But alas, just before the stroke of midnight on December 31st, congress passed the American Tax Relief Act of 2012 and saved the day.  In an instant all our cares were over... right?  But as we awoke to the promise of a new year, the buzz was gone, and people began to wonder, what had actually been done.  Had, in fact, anything really been fixed?  And for those of us interested in all things Medicare, the bigger question was, how does this piece of legislation effect Medicare?

The short answer to the questions above is, not much.  That is, not much is fixed, and Medicare is not affected much by the law.  Not much is fixed because most of the major issues were simply pushed off until March or December of this year.  Medicare is not affected much because most of the law does not even address Medicare-related issues.  There are, however, two items that do effect Medicare recipients.

On a related side note, the Social Security/Medicare tax break expired at the end of the year was not renewed.  Two years ago, active workers saw a 2% reduction in the amount of tax they paid for Social Security and Medicare.  Beginning the first of this year, that tax break will disappear.  So if you are actively employed, this may explain why your check took a little dip this month.

Article originally appeared on Tweedy Insurance Group (http://tweedyinsurancegroup.squarespace.com/).
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