SOCIAL SECURITY, SSI, AND MEDICARE FACTS FOR 1994

     The beginning of each year brings with it adjustments in
Social Security programs. The changes include new tax rates,
higher exempt earnings amounts, Social Security and SSI
cost-of-living increases, and changes in deductible and
co-insurance requirements under Medicare. Here are the facts for
1994:
     FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: The FICA tax rate for
employees and their employers remains at 7.65%. This rate
includes payments to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability
Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund of 6.2% and an additional 1.45%
payment to the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund from which
payments under Medicare are made. Self-employed persons continue
to pay a Social Security tax of 15.3% which includes 12.4% paid
to the OASDI trust fund and 2.9% paid to the HI trust fund. 
     Ceiling on Earnings Subject to Tax: During 1993, the ceiling
on taxable earnings for contributions to the OASDI trust fund was
$57,600, and the ceiling on taxable earnings for contributions to
the HI trust fund was $135,000. The taxable income ceiling for
contributions to the OASDI trust fund during 1994 is $60,600.
Beginning with January, 1994, there is no ceiling on earnings
subject to the HI trust fund tax contribution of 1.45% for
employees or 2.9% for self-employed persons. 
     Quarters of Coverage: Eligibility for retirement, survivors,
and disability insurance benefits is based in large part on the
number of quarters of coverage earned by any individual during
periods of work. Anyone may earn up to four quarters of coverage
during a single year. During 1993 a Social Security quarter of
coverage was credited for earnings of $590 in any calendar
quarter. Anyone who earned $2,360 during the year (regardless of
when the earnings occurred) was given four quarters of coverage.
In 1994 a Social Security quarter of coverage will be credited
for earnings of $620 during a calendar quarter. Four quarters can
be earned with annual earnings of $2,480. 
          Exempt Earnings: The earnings exemption for blind
people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
benefits is the same as the exempt amount for individuals age
sixty-five through sixty-nine who receive Social Security
retirement benefits. The monthly exempt amount in 1993 was $880
of gross earned income. During 1994 the exempt amount will be
$930. Technically, this exemption is referred to as an amount of
monthly gross earnings which does not show "substantial gainful
activity." Earnings of $930 or more per month before taxes for a
blind SSDI beneficiary in 1994 will show substantial gainful
activity after subtracting any unearned (or subsidy) income and
applying any deductions for impairment-related work expenses.
     Social Security Benefit Amounts for 1994: All Social
Security benefits, including retirement, survivors, disability,
and dependents' benefits are increased by 2.6% beginning with the
checks received in January, 1994. The exact dollar increase for
any individual will depend upon the amount being paid. 
     
     Standard SSI Benefit Increase: Beginning January, 1994, the
federal payment amounts for SSI individuals and couples are as
follows: individuals, $446 per month; couples, $669 per month.
These amounts are increased from individuals, $434 per month;
couples, $652 per month.
     Medicare Deductibles and Co-insurance: Medicare Part A
coverage provides hospital insurance to most Social Security
beneficiaries. The co-insurance payment is the charge that the
hospital makes to a Medicare beneficiary for any hospital stay.
Medicare then pays the hospital charges above the beneficiary's
co-insurance amount. 
          The Part A co-insurance amount charged for hospital
services within a benefit period of not longer than sixty days
was $676 during 1993 and is increased to $696 during 1994. From
the sixty-first day through the ninetieth day there is a daily
co-insurance amount of $174 per day, up from $169 in 1993. Each
Medicare beneficiary has sixty "reserve days" for hospital
services provided within a benefit period longer than ninety
days. The co-insurance amount to be paid during each reserve day
is $348, up from $338 in 1993. 
     Part A of Medicare pays all covered charges for services in
a skilled nursing facility for the first twenty days within a
benefit period. From the twenty-first day through the one
hundredth day within a benefit period, the Part A co-insurance
amount for services received in a skilled nursing facility is $87
per day.
     For most beneficiaries there is no monthly premium charge
for Medicare Part A coverage. Persons who become ineligible for
Social Security Disability Insurance cash benefits can continue
to receive Medicare Part A coverage premium-free for thirty-nine
months following the end of a trial work period. After that time
the individual may purchase Part A coverage. The premium rate for
this coverage during 1994 is $245 per month. 
          The Medicare Part B (medical insurance) deductible
remains at $100 in 1994. This is an annual deductible amount. The
Medicare Part B basic monthly premium rate will increase from
$36.60 charged to each beneficiary and withheld from Social
Security checks during 1993 to $41.10 per month during 1994.
Medicare Part B coverage may be continued for people who complete
a trial work period and become ineligible to receive Social
Security Disability Insurance cash benefits. This monthly premium
rate is $41.10, the same amount paid by Social Security
beneficiaries through withholding from their monthly Social
Security checks.