HIGHLIGHTS OF MEDICARE CHANGES

Highlights of Medicare changes

* Beneficiaries pay only one hospital inpatient deductible charge ($564) per calendar year

* Eliminates three-day hospitalization requirement before a patient can be transferred to skilled-nursing facility

* Extends hospice benefits beyond 210-day limit if patient is certified as terminally ill

* Requires patient to pay a deductible equal to expenses for first three pints of blood furnished during a calendar year when hospitalized

* Uses premium rate based on federal tax liability (for every $150 of income tax paid, beneficiary pays $22.50 for coverage up to a maximum charge of $800)

* Requires companies that issue Medicare supplemental policies in effect Jan. 1, 1989, to send one-time notice explaining how new law affects policies and premiums; senior citizens taking new policies must be offered a 30-day trial period