Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
One Senate bill would raise Social Security benefits the most for the lowest-earning retirees
Retirees who spent decades working low-wage jobs stand to gain the most from a Senate bill that would restructure Social Security’s minimum benefit around years...
Medicare’s new cards trace back to a Medicare.gov breach that exposed accounts from 2023 to 2025
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries started receiving unexpected letters about Medicare.gov accounts they never created, prompting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to investigate what...
A retiree divorced more than two years can claim on an ex’s record even if the ex hasn’t filed yet
Divorced Americans who split from a spouse more than two years ago can file for Social Security benefits on that former spouse’s earnings record, even...
Medicare’s hospital trust fund is now set to run out in 2033, a year that would force an 11% cut to what it pays your hospital
Tens of millions of Americans who rely on Medicare Part A for hospital coverage face a hard deadline. The Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is...
Medicare’s fall enrollment, October 15 to December 7, is the only window most seniors get to leave a shrinking Advantage plan
Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans that have cut benefits, narrowed provider networks, or exited counties face a tight deadline to act. The Annual Election...
Social Security’s funding gap widened 16% in a single year
The roughly 70 million Americans who depend on Social Security checks each month just got worse news about the program’s financial future. The 75-year actuarial...
For the first time since 2006, Medicare will cover obesity drugs
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries with obesity will gain access to GLP-1 medications through Part D for the first time in two decades when a new...
Part D enrollees are projected to save $685 million next year as 15 newly negotiated Medicare drug prices take effect
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries who depend on expensive cancer and chronic disease medications are set to pay less at the pharmacy counter starting January 1,...
The trustees expect Social Security’s combined funds to pay full benefits only through 2034
Roughly 65 million Americans who depend on Social Security checks each month now face a shorter runway before those payments shrink automatically. The Social Security...
Rural seniors are nearly twice as likely to lose their Medicare Advantage plan
Roughly one in ten Medicare Advantage enrollees face forced disenrollment in 2026, and seniors living in rural counties bear a sharply disproportionate share of that...
Social Security’s retirement trust fund will empty one quarter sooner than projected, triggering a 22% benefit cut in late 2032 unless Congress acts
Tens of millions of Americans collecting Social Security retirement checks face a 22 percent benefit cut as early as late 2032 unless Congress changes the...
Who qualifies for Medicare’s new $50 coverage of Wegovy and Zepbound starting July 1?
Starting July 1, 2026, millions of Medicare beneficiaries with obesity will gain access to Wegovy, Zepbound, and Foundayo for a $50 monthly copay through a...
Retirees who claim before full retirement age lose $1 in benefits for every $2 they earn above $24,480 this year
Workers collecting Social Security before they hit full retirement age and earning more than $24,480 in 2026 will see their benefits cut, dollar for dollar,...
Medicare’s new $50 weight-loss coverage requires a body-mass index of 27 plus another condition like heart disease
Medicare beneficiaries with a body-mass index of 27 or higher and a history of heart attack, stroke, symptomatic peripheral artery disease, or prediabetes will gain...
Medicare Advantage out-of-pocket maximums have climbed about $900 in two years as plans trim extra benefits
Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans are absorbing sharply higher potential costs at the worst possible moment: out-of-pocket maximums have risen by roughly $900 over...
Medicare’s $50 weight-loss copay stays flat through 2027
Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for GLP-1 weight-loss medications will pay a fixed $50 for each monthly supply from July 1, 2026, through December 31, 2027,...
Medicare’s weight-loss coverage includes Wegovy and Zepbound, not Ozempic for weight loss
Medicare beneficiaries with Part D coverage will gain access to certain GLP-1 drugs for weight loss starting July 1, 2026, but the list of eligible...
Insurers are pulling Medicare Advantage plans out of more counties, and 7 in 10 expect to cover less in 2027
Medicare Advantage enrollees in dozens of counties face a shrinking menu of plan options for 2027 as insurers respond to tighter federal payment parameters and...
A 22% Social Security cut would take roughly a quarter of every retiree’s check the year the fund runs dry
Every retiree collecting Social Security faces a potential 22 percent pay cut the moment the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund runs out of reserves,...
Medicare is paying Advantage insurers 2.48% more next year, yet most plans expect to cover less
Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will see their insurers collect 2.48 percent more from the federal government in 2027, an increase worth more than...