Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Fifteen more drugs, including Ozempic and Trelegy, get lower negotiated Medicare prices on January 1, 2027
Fifteen more prescription drugs, including the diabetes and weight-loss medicine Ozempic and the inhaled COPD treatment Trelegy, will carry lower negotiated Medicare prices starting January...
Next year’s Social Security raise is tracking near 3.8%, enough to finally outpace the rising Part B premium
Next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is tracking near 3.8%, according to the latest estimate from a leading advocacy group, a level that would finally...
Medicare’s IRMAA surcharge raises Part B and Part D premiums once income tops $109,000 in 2026
A single Medicare enrollee whose modified adjusted gross income tops $109,000 crosses into surcharge territory in 2026, the point where the income-related monthly adjustment amount...
Medicaid can exempt a home with up to $752,000 in equity while the owner is still alive in 2026
Medicaid can treat a home worth as much as $752,000 in equity as an exempt asset in 2026, letting an applicant qualify for long-term-care coverage...
Supplemental Security Income pays up to $994 a month in 2026, with a $2,000 asset cap frozen since 1989
Supplemental Security Income pays a maximum federal benefit of $994 a month for an individual in 2026, up from $967 the year before after a...
Medicare’s standard Part B deductible is $283 in 2026, the amount you pay before coverage begins
Medicare’s standard Part B deductible rises to $283 in 2026, an increase of $26 from $257 the year before. It is the amount a beneficiary...
Medicare’s Part A hospital deductible is $1,736 per benefit period in 2026, and it can apply more than once a year
Medicare’s Part A inpatient hospital deductible rises to $1,736 in 2026, an increase of $60 from $1,676 the year before. The number is easy to...
Social Security’s maximum benefit at full retirement age reaches $4,152 a month in 2026
Social Security’s maximum monthly benefit for a worker who retires at full retirement age climbs to $4,152 in 2026, an increase of $134 from $4,018...
A disabled adult child can collect Social Security on a parent’s record for life
Millions of American families support an adult son or daughter whose disability began in childhood, and many never learn that Social Security may owe that...
Social Security added 14 conditions to its Compassionate Allowances list to fast-track disability approvals
The Social Security Administration added 14 medical conditions to its Compassionate Allowances list on August 11, 2026, expanding the roster of diagnoses that qualify applicants...
Original Medicare covers no routine dental, vision, or hearing, a gap that surprises many new retirees
Original Medicare, the federal coverage that anchors retirement for tens of millions of Americans, pays nothing toward routine dental care, eye exams for glasses, or...
Some states give Medigap enrollees a yearly birthday window to switch plans with no health questions
A handful of states give Medicare Supplement policyholders something federal law does not: a guaranteed yearly window, tied to their birthday, to switch to another...
Medicare caps covered insulin at $35 a month in 2026, with no deductible
A one-month supply of each covered insulin product carries a maximum out-of-pocket cost of $35 for Medicare drug-plan enrollees in 2026, and no deductible applies...
Medicare’s Part D out-of-pocket drug cap rises to $2,100 in 2026, then covered prescriptions cost nothing
Medicare’s annual out-of-pocket ceiling for covered prescription drugs climbs to $2,100 in 2026, a $100 increase over the $2,000 cap that took effect in 2025....
Elevance and Centene have each pulled Medicare Advantage from more than 100 counties as insurers keep retreating
Two of the country’s largest health insurers have each stopped offering Medicare Advantage in more than 100 counties, a retreat that reshaped where older Americans...
UnitedHealthcare’s preliminary 2027 plan would end Medicare Advantage in 34 counties across 12 states
UnitedHealthcare’s preliminary blueprint for the 2027 plan year would pull its Medicare Advantage plans out of 34 counties spread across 12 states, a move that...
Medicaid lets the at-home spouse keep the house and one car when a partner moves into a nursing home
When one spouse enters a nursing home and applies for Medicaid, the couple’s countable savings generally must fall close to $2,000 before the government will...
A new retiree can still collect a full Social Security check in any month they earn under the limit that first year
The Social Security earnings test looks brutal on paper for someone who retires midyear after a high-earning stretch, but a special first-year rule softens it...
Remarrying before age 60 costs a widow her Social Security survivor benefit
A single date on the calendar can decide whether a widow keeps a Social Security check worth hundreds or thousands of dollars a month. Remarrying...
In the year you reach full retirement age, Social Security holds back just $1 of every $3 earned over $65,160
The Social Security earnings test punishes working retirees far less in the year they reach full retirement age than in the years before it. For...