Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
You can appeal a Medicare denial through five levels, and a large share of appeals succeed
A denial letter from Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan reads like a final word, but it rarely is. Medicare gives beneficiaries a formal, five-level...
Medicare’s hospice benefit covers end-of-life care, plus respite stays for caregivers
When a serious illness reaches the point where curative treatment stops helping, Medicare’s hospice benefit shifts the goal to comfort, and it does so at...
A Medicare Special Needs Plan can fold Medicare and Medicaid into one plan for people who qualify for both
Millions of older Americans hold two health cards at once, one for Medicare and one for their state’s Medicaid program, and juggling them can mean...
Doctors who don’t accept Medicare assignment can bill you up to 15% above the approved amount
A doctor’s willingness to “accept assignment” is one of the quietest cost switches in all of Medicare, and most enrollees never think to ask about...
A divorced spouse can claim on an ex’s Social Security two years after divorce, even if the ex hasn’t filed
A divorce ends a marriage, but it does not always end a claim on a former spouse’s Social Security. A person whose marriage lasted at...
A spouse caring for the worker’s child under 16 can draw Social Security at any age
Almost everything about Social Security spousal benefits is tied to age. A spouse usually cannot collect before 62, and claiming that early permanently trims the...
Social Security benefits are shielded from most creditors, though the government can still take some for its own debts
A judgment from a credit card company or a hospital can feel like the end of the road for a retiree living on a fixed...
Claim Social Security early and regret it, and suspending at full retirement age can rebuild the benefit
Roughly a third of new Social Security recipients start their benefit at 62, the earliest age allowed, and lock in a permanently reduced check in...
Social Security disability back pay can reach 12 months before you applied
An award letter from Social Security often carries a second surprise: a lump sum covering months, sometimes more than a year, before the checks began....
A Social Security representative payee must spend and account for a loved one’s check, or risk repaying it
Taking over a relative’s Social Security as a representative payee sounds like a simple favor: the check comes to you, and you handle the bills....
You can start Social Security and keep working past full retirement age with no earnings penalty
Full retirement age draws a hard line through Social Security’s rules on working. On one side, earning too much can shrink a benefit; on the...
The Social Security payment for the month a person dies must be returned, even after it reaches the bank
A parent dies in the middle of the month, and a few days later the usual Social Security deposit lands in their checking account. To...
Money Social Security withholds for working before full retirement age comes back later as a higher check
Retirees who claim Social Security early and keep working often watch payments shrink or vanish, and many conclude the government simply took the money. It...
Social Security’s special minimum benefit rewards a long, low-wage career with a higher floor on your check
Most Social Security retirement checks are figured off a worker’s 35 highest-earning years, a formula that quietly punishes decades of low pay. There is a...
A Social Security overpayment can be wiped out entirely when the mistake wasn’t yours and repaying would leave you short
A letter from Social Security demanding thousands of dollars back can land without warning, often for an error the beneficiary never made and never noticed....
A survivor’s Social Security check is capped when the late spouse claimed early, a limit many widows never see coming
Most people assume a surviving spouse simply steps into the larger of the couple’s two Social Security checks. In practice, one quiet provision can hold...
Medicare’s Part D drug deductible jumps to $700 for 2027, up from $615, and most plans will cost more
Medicare’s standard Part D drug deductible will climb to $700 in 2027, up from $615 this year, the most a beneficiary can be asked to...
Trump is allowing 300,000 tons of cheaper imported ground beef as prices push toward $7 a pound
President Trump has cleared the way for up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to enter the United States without the usual out-of-quota tariff,...
Medicare covers a continuous glucose monitor and diabetes supplies for many enrollees
Medicare covers a continuous glucose monitor and the supplies that go with diabetes care for many enrollees, a benefit that can replace the daily cost...
Missed signing up for Medicare? A general window runs January through March
Anyone who missed signing up for Medicare when first eligible gets a second chance each year in a window that runs January 1 through March...