HEALTH : Medicare Deductible to Rise to $592

WASHINGTON —  The amount of money an elderly person must pay before receiving Medicare hospital benefits next year will increase by $32 to $592, the government announced today.

The Health Care Financing Administration said the major reason for the increase in the deductible is the estimated increase in the cost of products and services purchased by hospitals.

After a person pays the first-day deductible, Medicare will pay all “medically necessary” inpatient hospital costs for the rest of the year under the Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988.

However, there is a strong possibility that Congress will repeal the law because of a furor over a surtax paid by better-off beneficiaries of the program.