Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
About 600 adults disabled before 22 were wrongly denied benefits on a parent’s record
An estimated 600 childhood-disability claims filed on a parent’s record were denied in error by the Social Security Administration, according to an audit by the...
Social Security’s new heart-condition disability rules take effect Oct. 30
The Social Security Administration’s revised medical criteria for cardiovascular disorders take effect on October 30, 2026, changing how the agency evaluates heart-related disability claims under...
A grandparent raising a 14-year-old gets no caregiver exemption from Medicaid’s work rule
A grandparent raising a grandchild who is 14 falls outside the family-caregiver exemption in the federal Medicaid work rule, because that exemption stops at dependent...
Being 65 is a full exemption from Medicaid’s new 80-hour work rule
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a rule requiring certain Medicaid adults to show 80 hours a month of work, community service,...
Fairview names Blue Cross, HealthPartners and Medica as the plans that stay in network for 2027
M Health Fairview has told patients that beginning Jan. 1, 2027, it will no longer schedule appointments or services for people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare...
Medicare Advantage plans must post who qualifies for chronic-illness extras starting in 2027
Before this rule, a Medicare Advantage plan could offer extra benefits to chronically ill members without telling the public how it decided who was eligible....
States can raise SNAP utility allowances 3.5% starting Oct. 1 under a USDA shortcut, which can lift benefits for high-utility households
A USDA memo issued Aug. 24, 2026 gives state SNAP agencies a shortcut to raise their standard utility allowances by 3.5% for fiscal year 2027,...
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, states will check Medicaid enrollees’ addresses against Postal Service change-of-address records
About 1.2 million Americans each month in 2024 appeared to be enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in more than one state, according to a CMS...
Medicare Advantage plans can stop sending mid-year notices about unused extra benefits in 2027
Between June 30 and July 31 of each plan year, a Medicare Advantage plan was supposed to send members a list of the supplemental benefits...
Medicare’s final 2027 rule removes 11 measures from Medicare Advantage star ratings
Eleven administrative-process measures are leaving Medicare Advantage star ratings under CMS’s contract year 2027 final rule, which appeared in the Federal Register on April 6...
Federal Medicaid funding for several groups of lawfully present immigrants ends Oct. 1 under Trump’s 2025 law
Tomorrow, Oct. 1, 2026, Section 71109 of Trump’s 2025 law cuts off federal Medicaid funding for lawfully present immigrants in several groups. Refugees, asylees, trafficking...
Under Trump’s 2025 law, Medicaid applicants may have to show one to three months of work before they apply once the 80-hour rule starts Jan. 1
An adult who applies for Medicaid expansion coverage after Jan. 1, 2027, may first have to document one to three straight months of qualifying activity,...
A House bill would keep Medicare’s Part D premium subsidy running through 2029, which its sponsors say saved seniors $312 on average this year
Sponsors of a House bill to keep Medicare’s Part D premium subsidy running through 2029 say it saved seniors an average of $312 this year,...
Medicare Savings Program members whose state pays their Part B premium automatically get Extra Help, capping 2027 generics at $5.80
A Medicare Savings Program is usually described as help with the Part B premium, yet Medicare.gov lists it as one of three routes to automatic...
Medicare Advantage insurers dropping plans for 2027 must mail members a non-renewal notice at least 90 days before Jan. 1
Medicare Advantage members whose insurer is leaving for 2027 are supposed to hear it in writing by early October. Under 42 CFR 422.506, an insurer...
A House bill raising Medicare doctor pay would cost $4.98 billion, with Part B premiums covering about a quarter, CBO says
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a House bill raising Medicare payments to doctors would add $4.98 billion to direct spending from 2026 through 2036,...
More than 99% of people on Medicare will have at least one Medicare Advantage plan to choose from in 2027, CMS says
Only a sliver of the Medicare population sits outside the reach of Medicare Advantage next year. CMS says more than 99% of beneficiaries will have...
Medicare Advantage is expected to cover 34 million people in 2027, about 47.4% of everyone on Medicare
About 34 million people are projected to be enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2027, roughly 47.4% of everyone on Medicare, CMS said Sept. 28. A...
Kansas and Washington, D.C., lose Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, but average premiums in both fall sharply
Seven fewer plans in Kansas and five fewer in Washington, D.C., come with average Medicare Advantage premiums that fall by about 40% and 36% for...
Military retirees’ TRICARE drug copays stay frozen in 2027, with a generic still $16 at a retail pharmacy
A generic drug filled at a TRICARE retail network pharmacy will still carry a $16 copay for a 30-day supply in 2027, and military retirees’...