Insurance & Protection
Health insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance, disability coverage, and how to evaluate policies and claims.
Latest in Insurance & Protection
Medicaid lets a healthy spouse keep the family home and one car when a partner enters a nursing home
Married couples face a stark financial threat when one partner needs nursing-home care: Medicaid requires applicants to spend down most of their assets before coverage...
A durable power of attorney lets a trusted person manage your money if illness leaves you unable
Millions of Americans already handle money or property for a family member who can no longer do it alone, and the single document that keeps...
Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses can qualify for an Aid and Attendance pension worth up to roughly $2,900 a month
Wartime veterans who can no longer dress, bathe, or feed themselves without help, along with their surviving spouses, stand to collect a VA pension of...
Assisted living now runs a median $6,200 a month, and Medicaid steps in only after your savings run down
Families searching for assisted living face a national median price tag of $6,200 a month, a 5 percent jump in a single year that pushes...
If a former employer’s pension plan shut down, the federal PBGC may hold a benefit waiting in your name
Workers who changed jobs years ago and lost track of a former employer’s pension plan could have retirement money sitting unclaimed at a federal agency....
Medicaid covers in-home care in many states, an alternative to a nursing home
Adults who need daily help with bathing, dressing, or meal preparation can receive paid assistance at home through Medicaid in dozens of states, bypassing the...
Owners of millions of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles can get a free airbag fix under a stop-driving order
Owners of roughly 225,000 Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles still carrying unrepaired Takata airbag inflators have been told by federal regulators to stop driving...
Medicaid can bill your estate for nursing-home care after you die, though your home is often shielded
Families who rely on Medicaid to cover a parent’s or grandparent’s nursing-home stay often discover, only after the person dies, that the state can file...
$2.4 billion in life-insurance payouts sits unclaimed, and a free national locator finds a policy left in your name
Families across the United States are missing out on billions of dollars in life-insurance benefits because no one told them a policy existed. Multistate settlement...
A growing list of burn-pit illnesses now qualifies veterans for disability pay
Thousands of post-9/11 veterans who were previously denied disability benefits now qualify for compensation after the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its list of presumptive...
Two nights “under observation” instead of admitted can cost thousands and block nursing-home coverage
Medicare beneficiaries who spend two nights in a hospital bed can still be classified as outpatients under observation, a designation that shifts costs onto patients...
Nearly 5 million cars still carry unrepaired Takata airbags; replacement costs nothing
Nearly five million vehicles on American roads still contain Takata airbag inflators that can rupture during a crash, firing metal fragments at drivers and passengers....
A healthy spouse can keep up to $162,660 in savings when a partner enters a nursing home on Medicaid
Families facing the prospect of a spouse entering a nursing home on Medicaid in 2026 can protect a significant share of their joint savings. Federal...
Workers 55 and older can add $1,000 to an HSA each year
Workers who turn 55 by the end of a tax year and carry a high-deductible health plan can deposit an extra $1,000 into a health...
Home insurance climbs to about $3,057 in 2026, and Florida seniors now pay over $3,600
American homeowners will spend an average of about $3,057 on property insurance by the end of 2026, a 4 percent increase that follows a sharp...
Hyundai and Kia owners can claim part of a $62.1 million settlement over defective airbag units
Owners and former lessees of certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles can now file for cash payments from a $62.1 million settlement tied to allegedly defective...
Two nights in the hospital “under observation” instead of admitted can cost thousands and block nursing-home coverage
Medicare beneficiaries who spend two nights in a hospital bed, receive treatment from hospital staff, and sleep in a hospital room can still be classified...
Money in a flexible spending account is use-it-or-lose-it by year’s end in most plans
Employees who set aside pretax dollars in a health flexible spending account face a familiar year-end problem: any money left unspent after December 31 disappears....
ACA health premiums are set to more than double in 2026 after enhanced subsidies expired, hitting near-retirees hardest
Millions of people who buy their own health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are opening their 2026 renewal notices to a shock. The...
Health premiums jumped this year after enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired, hitting people in their late 50s and early 60s hardest
Older adults who buy health insurance on their own, rather than through an employer or Medicare, are facing sharply higher costs this year. A temporary...