Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Without a fix, Social Security would cut everyone’s checks 22% when its trust fund runs dry in 2032
Every American collecting Social Security retirement benefits faces a 22 percent pay cut in roughly six years if Congress does nothing. The Social Security Board...
550,000 Medicare Advantage members will be dropped as Humana exits markets it calls unprofitable for 2026
Roughly 550,000 people enrolled in Humana Medicare Advantage plans face the loss of their current coverage after the insurer announced it will pull out of...
3.8% is now Social Security’s likely 2027 raise, about $77 more a month for the average retiree
Roughly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries could see their monthly checks rise by about $77 starting in January 2027, based on early modeling that pegs...
Social Security now changes your direct deposit in a single day and has tightened ID checks to block thieves
Tens of millions of Social Security beneficiaries can now get a direct deposit change processed in a single business day, a speed-up the agency paired...
A Senate bill, the Social Security Expansion Act, would lift checks by taxing earnings above $250,000
Millions of Social Security recipients could see their monthly checks rise by an average of $200 per month under a Senate proposal that would fund...
Your 2025 tax return decides whether you’ll owe Medicare’s high-income surcharge in 2027
Medicare beneficiaries filing 2025 tax returns are setting the income baseline that the Social Security Administration will use to calculate premium surcharges two years from...
Medicare Advantage plans are expected to trim dental, vision and drug perks in 2027
Millions of older Americans who chose Medicare Advantage for its dental cleanings, eye exams, and prescription drug extras could see those perks shrink or disappear...
$685 million in senior savings is projected as Ozempic and Wegovy join Medicare’s 2027 price cuts
Millions of Medicare Part D enrollees who depend on Ozempic, Wegovy, and other high-cost chronic-disease drugs are set to pay less starting January 1, 2027,...
$1,690 a month is the most you can earn on disability in 2026 before your benefits stop
Workers collecting Social Security Disability Insurance who pick up part-time jobs in 2026 face a hard earnings ceiling: $1,690 per month for non-blind individuals. Earn...
Divorced after at least 10 years of marriage? You can claim up to half an ex-spouse’s Social Security, and it never lowers their check.
Millions of Americans who ended a long marriage may be leaving money on the table. Under federal rules, a person whose marriage lasted at least...
Social Security has lost about 7,500 workers, and some field offices are now closing or cutting their hours.
Roughly 7,500 fewer workers staff the Social Security Administration today compared with a decade ago, and the squeeze is now hitting the public directly. Several...
Medicare’s GLP-1 Bridge has a catch: the $50 monthly copay won’t count toward your annual drug-cost cap.
Medicare beneficiaries who start filling GLP-1 prescriptions through the new $50-per-month Bridge demonstration on July 1, 2026, will not see those payments chip away at...
2 million seniors who qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help skip $11.4 billion in drug savings.
More than 2 million people with Medicare qualify for Extra Help, a federal subsidy that slashes prescription drug costs, yet they have never enrolled. That...
If you qualify for QMB, providers cannot bill you for Medicare deductibles or copays.
Low-income Medicare enrollees in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program are shielded by federal law from paying any deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments for Medicare-covered services. Providers...
Medicare’s GLP-1 Bridge starts July 1, covering Wegovy and Zepbound for a flat $50 a month for eligible seniors.
Millions of Medicare Part D enrollees with obesity or related conditions will gain access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs for a flat $50 copay per month...
When your Medicare Advantage plan drops out for 2027, you get a guaranteed right to buy any Medigap policy.
Medicare Advantage enrollees whose plans exit the market at the end of 2026 will be shifted back to Original Medicare, but federal rules guarantee them...
Which veterans would lose money under the new bill? Those paid for tinnitus, or for sleep apnea treated with a CPAP machine.
Veterans who file new disability claims for tinnitus or sleep apnea treated with a CPAP machine stand to receive lower monthly compensation under H.R. 9237,...
Medicare just added 15 more drugs to its negotiated-price list, with lower out-of-pocket costs landing in 2027.
Millions of Medicare Part D enrollees who rely on drugs for cancer and chronic conditions will see lower out-of-pocket costs starting January 1, 2027, after...
Social Security can now withhold half of your monthly check to claw back an overpayment it says you received.
Millions of Social Security recipients who owe money back to the federal government now face a sharply higher default bite from their monthly checks. The...
A spouse who earned little or nothing can still claim a Social Security check worth up to half the higher earner’s benefit.
Millions of Americans who spent years out of the paid workforce or earned modest wages still qualify for a Social Security check equal to half...