Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Medicare’s Part B premium comes straight out of your Social Security check
For most people on Medicare, the Part B premium is never paid by check or card. It is pulled directly from the monthly Social Security...
A surviving spouse inherits the larger of two Social Security checks, not both
When one spouse dies, a couple that had been receiving two Social Security checks does not keep both. The survivor moves to the larger of...
A survivor benefit can begin at 60, or 50 for a disabled widow or widower
A surviving spouse does not have to wait until full retirement age to draw a Social Security survivor benefit. It can begin as early as...
Social Security is paid the month after it’s due, and your birthday sets the deposit date
New retirees are often thrown by their first Social Security deposit twice over. It arrives a month later than expected, and it lands on a...
Social Security’s disability rules count fewer work credits for people who become disabled young
Many workers assume that Social Security disability, like retirement, demands 40 work credits earned over roughly a decade. That assumption shuts younger people out of...
Medicare covers yearly depression screening and outpatient mental-health care
Medicare pays for one depression screening every year at no cost, and covers ongoing therapy and counseling that many older adults assume they must pay...
A health savings account can pay Medicare premiums tax-free once you turn 65
Turning 65 unlocks a rarely used feature of a health savings account: after that birthday, its funds can pay Medicare premiums with no tax and...
Social Security’s Ticket to Work lets disability recipients test a job without losing benefits
Fear of losing a disability check keeps many recipients from ever testing whether they can work again. Social Security’s Ticket to Work program is built...
Medicare covers a one-time Welcome to Medicare visit free in your first year of Part B
Medicare hands every new enrollee a free medical appointment in the first year of Part B, and most let it expire unused. The one-time Welcome...
Medicare’s 2027 out-of-pocket drug cap holds near $2,400, after which covered prescriptions cost nothing
A cornerstone of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act carries into 2027: a firm ceiling on what a Medicare drug plan member pays out of pocket...
Medicare’s income surcharge is set by your tax return from two years earlier
The premium a Medicare enrollee pays this year is often decided by a tax return that is already two years old. The income-related monthly adjustment...
Social Security disability carries a five-month wait for checks and two years for Medicare
Approval of a Social Security disability claim does not start the money. A five-month waiting period sits between the date the Social Security Administration fixes...
Remarrying generally ends your right to claim on a living ex-spouse’s Social Security
A divorce does not necessarily sever a person’s claim to Social Security on a former spouse’s record — but a second marriage usually does. Someone...
Qualifying for a Medicare Savings Program automatically enrolls you in Extra Help with drug costs
One approval can unlock two separate forms of help with Medicare costs, and most people who qualify never realize the second one is automatic. Getting...
The 2026 Social Security raise was 2.8%, about $56 more a month for the average retiree
Social Security benefits rose 2.8 percent in 2026, adding roughly $56 a month to the average retired worker’s check. The adjustment lifted the typical monthly...
Medicare Part A is free only with 40 work credits; fall short and you pay a monthly premium
Medicare Part A carries no monthly premium for most people, but that free hospital coverage is earned, not automatic. The dividing line is roughly forty...
Most states don’t tax Social Security benefits, and the short list that does keeps shrinking
For the large majority of retirees, a Social Security check arrives untouched by any state income tax. Only a small group of states still counts...
A family maximum limits how much a household can draw on one worker’s Social Security record
When a spouse and children collect Social Security on one earner’s record at the same time, the household does not simply add up every benefit....
Medicare now covers every recommended adult vaccine at no cost
Every vaccine an older adult is advised to get now arrives without a copay or a deductible, a change that quietly removed one of the...
Your online Social Security account is the fastest way to catch earnings-record errors that lower your check
A Social Security retirement benefit is built from a lifetime of reported earnings, and a single missing or wrong year can quietly shrink the eventual...