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 does not let a met school-plan goal stand on its own as proof a young adult can work, under a ruling applied October 1
A school plan can say a student met a goal and still leave open whether that student could hold a job. Social Security’s new ruling...
Social Security’s watchdog projects more than 469,000 overpayment notices in a single year were missing, inaccurate or lacked the explanation and appeal rights the agency’s own policy requires
Social Security’s inspector general estimates that more than 469,000 overpayment notices in fiscal 2023 were not issued in line with the agency’s own rules. Some...
Genesis HealthCare, the only hospital system across six southeastern Ohio counties, is ending Medicare Advantage contracts with Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual and CareSource after December 31
Genesis HealthCare System, the only hospital system in six southeastern Ohio counties, has told four insurers it will end its Medicare Advantage contracts after December...
California will leave its SSI state supplement frozen at $239.94 for an individual on January 1, so only the federal share rises
California’s state supplement to Supplemental Security Income stays frozen at $239.94 a month for an individual on January 1. The federal cost-of-living adjustment of 3.6...
Social Security closed its Portland repayment lockbox, and overpayment checks reaching the old post office box after December 30 are returned to sender
Social Security has retired the Portland, Oregon, post office box that took repayment checks, and mail still sent there after December 30, 2026, will go...
A CMS proposal would stop Medicare Advantage members paying out-of-network prices when a wrong provider directory sends them to the wrong doctor
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a rule that would cap what a Medicare Advantage member pays at the plan’s in-network rate...
The average Medicare shopper has 28 drug-covering Advantage plans to pick from for 2027, and the share with more than 40 options drops to one in five
A person shopping for a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage for 2027 can pick from 28 of them on average, according to KFF, the...
Social Security’s watchdog found a quarter of sampled SSI recipients owned a vehicle they never reported, and the agency does not independently verify ownership
Social Security’s inspector general found that 54 of 208 sampled Supplemental Security Income recipients, or 26 percent, owned a vehicle they had not reported. The...
Social Security’s 3.6% raise lands in January, and beneficiaries who want the notice with their new amount online must enroll in paperless notices by November 18
Social Security benefits rise 3.6% in 2027, the agency announced on October 14, and the larger payments start arriving in January. The new amount shows...
Social Security’s watchdog flags $9.1 million tied to beneficiaries living in restricted countries
Social Security’s inspector general has flagged $9.1 million in payments tied to beneficiaries who live in countries where the agency restricts how it pays. The...
SSI couples in Maine who both get the state supplement are due two full individual state supplements instead of 1.5 times one, under a law in effect since July 29
Married couples in Maine who both receive the state’s SSI supplement are due the sum of two individual supplements, not 1.5 times one, under a...
Social Security commissioner Frank Bisignano says the program will be around for another 90 years, while trustees project its main trust fund runs short in 2032
Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano said on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, October 12, 2026, “It’s 90 years old, and it’ll be around for another...
Social Security is reminding families of 18- and 19-year-old students to report school changes, after its watchdog questioned $160.8 million in student benefits
Social Security is reminding families that student benefits can end, and be clawed back, when school changes go unreported. The October 15, 2026 reminder follows...
Social Security’s watchdog says an estimated 50,194 people on childhood disability benefits have wrong entitlement dates on file, tied to $164.5 million
Social Security’s inspector general estimates that 50,194 people receiving childhood disability benefits have the wrong entitlement date on file. The audit, issued September 25, 2026,...
North Carolina Medicaid applicants who apply by Dec. 31 can get up to three months of past bills covered, while many adults 19 to 64 get one month starting January
North Carolina Medicaid will go back up to three months to cover health care costs for anyone who applies by December 31, 2026. Starting January...
Social Security’s watchdog urges the agency to start withholding from SSI and Social Security checks to recover child-benefit overpayments tied to $242.4 million
Social Security’s inspector general is urging the agency to begin withholding money automatically from SSI payments and Social Security benefits to collect overpaid child benefits....
At least 42,349 Braven Health members in New Jersey lose their Medicare Advantage plans December 31, as all 10 of the insurer’s New Jersey plans end after 2026
Braven Health members in New Jersey have until December 7 to choose a new Medicare plan that starts January 1, because every Braven Medicare Advantage...
SSI can cut a payment by $25, then $50, then $100 each time a change in income, resources or living arrangements is reported over 10 days after the month ends
People who get Supplemental Security Income must tell Social Security about certain changes within 10 days after the end of the month in which the...
New Mexico Medicaid will cover bills from only one month before applying for some adults 19-64 starting January 2027, and two months for older and disabled people, down from three
New Mexico will shorten how far back Medicaid pays for care received before an application, starting in January 2027. The state’s Health Care Authority (HCA)...
Pennsylvania has sent letters to nearly 700,000 Medicaid expansion adults about an 80-hour monthly work requirement that starts in January 2027
Letters are arriving at the homes of nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians on Medicaid, warning that adults on the expansion program will have to show 80 hours...