1 Answer

This eRumor gets a little complex. There were increases in Medicare premiums announced in 2010. Currently, in 2012, the rates posted on the Medicare site are $451 for Part A and $99.90 for Part B.

There were no Cost of Living increases for Social Security recipients in 2010 or 2011. Congressional representatives have not received pay raises since 2009 and in 2010 actually voted to stop their annual automatic cost of living increases.

During the Spring of 2012 one official looking version of this eRumor said that premiums would be hiked up to $247 in 2014. The warning appeared to have come from a representative of by Text-Enhance" href="http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/medicare-premiums.htm">Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. According to an April 5, 2012 article in the Boston Globe, the insurance representative received this viral email and forwarded it from her work computer which pasted her company information at the bottom of the email, thus lending some credibility to the Internet Hoax. Click for story.