House summary is here:
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/RU/RU00/CPRT-114-RU00-D001.pdfFull bill for those who grok legalize (those who struggle with fund prospectuses need not apply
):
http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20151026/BILLS-114hr-PIH-BUDGET.pdfI've just looked over the Medicare premiums fix. I'm gobsmacked. IMHO this is about the most sane, reasonable solution possible. Something must have gone wrong in Congress.
In a nutshell, people not protected by "hold harmless" get to pay in 2016 the amount they would have paid had no one been held harmless (i.e. if the cost increases had been applied to everyone) - around $120. Paying their fair share seems only, well, fair.
The Treasury will
lend Medicare enough to make up the difference. Starting in 2016, everyone whose premiums are allowed to rise (i.e. not held harmless) will pay a $3 surcharge to begin repaying the loan. When the loan is repaid (somewhere around five years down the road), that surcharge will be dropped. It's analogous to mutual fund fee waivers being clawed back over time by fund managers once the waiver is removed.
(The $3 surcharge is subject to income related adjustments - if you pay, say 2x in Medicare premiums because you have a high income, then you'll pay a $6 surcharge.)
If there's no SS COLA next year, the same rules apply. Over time, when COLAs kick in, everyone will be paying their fair share, and everyone will also be paying a surcharge to pay back the loan.
