Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Social Security has asked to replace its online claim form with a Universal Benefits Application covering 2,223,305 filers a year, and comments close October 26
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has asked the Office of Management and Budget to clear a new Universal Benefits Application that would replace iClaim, the...
Social Security will no longer treat an achieved school IEP goal as proof a young adult can work, without weighing the supports behind it
Since October 1, 2026, a young adult’s school record carries a built-in caution inside Social Security disability decisions. Under Social Security Ruling 26-2p, an adjudicator...
Social Security began charging $74 on October 1 to verify a number for a third party, one of ten fees now set by the date a request arrives
The Social Security Administration (SSA) started charging $74 on October 1 for a manual check that confirms a Social Security number on behalf of a...
A mandatory Medicare drug rule published October 2 takes effect November 30, and CMS says the first lower out-of-pocket costs could come on April 1, 2027
A final rule published in the Federal Register on October 2 creates a mandatory Medicare drug payment model that takes effect November 30, 2026, and...
Medicare’s non-renewal switching window runs from December 8 to the end of February
Members of a Medicare Advantage plan whose insurer is not renewing its contract with Medicare get a special enrollment period that starts on December 8...
Plans C and F are closed to anyone who became Medicare-eligible on or after January 1, 2020, so a 66-year-old and a 78-year-old can buy different Medigap policies
Medigap shopping in 2026 starts with a date rather than an age. Plans C and F are closed to anyone who became Medicare-eligible on or...
A new Social Security rule took effect Oct. 1 for disability claims by adults aged about 18 to 25
A new Social Security rule took effect Oct. 1, governing how disability claims by adults aged about 18 to 25 are documented and evaluated. Social...
Seventeen of 100 SSI cases auditors sampled had earnings left undocumented
Seventeen of the 100 Supplemental Security Income recipients whom federal auditors sampled had an earnings alert that a Social Security employee closed without verifying and...
Arkansas’s average Medicare Advantage premium is $1.47 a month against a $12.00 national average
CMS’s 2027 state-by-state fact sheets put the average monthly Medicare Advantage premium in Arkansas at $1.47, down from $2.12 in 2026. The agency’s September 28...
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members lose 22 Providence hospitals on Jan. 1
UnitedHealthcare will drop 22 Providence-system hospitals from its individual Medicare Advantage networks on Jan. 1, 2027, eight in Oregon and 14 in Washington, according to...
Hospice respite care resets Oct. 1 at $545.93 a day, and families owe 5% of it
Medicare’s daily payment for inpatient respite care in hospice is $545.93 as of Oct. 1, the first day of fiscal year 2027, and a family...
A working disabled person can earn up to $5,405 a month and still get the Part A premium paid
Medicare’s own consumer site sets the monthly income ceiling for the Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals program at $5,405 for one person in 2026, roughly...
A cancelled Medicare Advantage plan opens a 63-day right to buy Medigap
A Medicare Advantage member whose plan is cancelled gets a protection with a hard edge: a window of no more than 63 days after coverage...
The USDA page explaining this year’s food-stamp increase has not changed since January 2024
The page the U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains to explain the annual food-stamp increase has not been touched since January 4, 2024, even though a...
Naples’ biggest health system drops Cigna and Wellcare Medicare Advantage on Dec. 31
NCH Healthcare System, the Naples, Florida, operator of NCH Baker Hospital and NCH North Hospital, now lists two Medicare Advantage carriers as out of network...
Hospice patients must now get a written list of what Medicare will not cover
Starting October 1, 2026, every Medicare beneficiary who elects hospice care must receive a written addendum listing the conditions, items, services and drugs the hospice...
Medicare enrollees in selected areas should see lower Part B drug coinsurance from April 1, 2027
What Medicare pays for Part B drugs will be tied to international price benchmarks under a mandatory payment model the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
The 2027 Social Security raise rests on one inflation reading due Oct. 14
Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 has not been announced, and no official figure exists yet. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to publish...
Social Security’s October checks land Oct. 14, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28, by birth date
Three Wednesdays carry October’s retirement, survivor and disability deposits: Oct. 14, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28, with a beneficiary’s birth date deciding which one, under...
Federal retirees may get an Extra Help letter after a records match that began Sept. 16
A records match between Social Security and the Office of Personnel Management is now under way to find federal civil-service annuitants who may qualify for...