Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
A subsidy that capped Medicare drug-plan premiums ends in 2027, raising costs for about half of enrollees
A behind-the-scenes federal payment has quietly held down what many Medicare beneficiaries pay for stand-alone drug coverage over the past two years. That support is...
Medicare’s Extra Help erases the Part D deductible and caps brand-drug copays at $12.65 for low-income seniors
A retiree on a fixed income can face a stark choice at the pharmacy counter when a prescription’s price climbs past what the monthly budget...
Medicare Advantage insurers are cutting 2027 plans; a fall letter says if yours survives
Millions of older Americans open a plain envelope from their insurer each fall and set it aside without a second look. For a growing number...
A “Medicare flex card” ad may promise grocery money, but the benefit is plan-specific and can carry eligibility limits
A card pictured beside groceries can make a Medicare advertisement look like a federal cash benefit. It is not. Spending cards are tools some private...
Go 63 days without Part D or other creditable drug coverage and Medicare may add a late penalty for as long as you have Part D
Employer prescription coverage protects against Medicare’s Part D late penalty only when the plan is “creditable,” meaning it is expected to pay at least as...
A high-deductible Medigap Plan G may trade a lower premium for more upfront cost
High-deductible Medigap Plan G keeps the broad benefit design of standard Plan G but delays the insurer’s payments until the policyholder has absorbed a large...
Original Medicare pays nothing toward long-term custodial care, which has a national median cost above $9,500 a month
The largest health expense in later life can sit outside Original Medicare altogether. When a nursing-home stay is custodial—help with bathing, dressing, eating, transferring, or...
Medicaid can bill an estate after death, but a surviving spouse or disabled child can block recovery on the home
Medicaid can pay years of nursing-home or home-care bills and later seek repayment from a recipient’s estate, placing the family home at the center of...
When one spouse enters a nursing home on Medicaid, the at-home spouse can keep up to $4,066.50 in monthly income
A nursing-home admission does not automatically give Medicaid the at-home spouse’s entire household income. Federal spousal-impoverishment rules create an income allowance for the husband or...
Losing job coverage opens an 8-month window to enroll in Part B penalty-free
The end of employer health insurance starts a Medicare clock that is generous enough to prevent an immediate penalty but short enough to punish a...
Some Medicare Advantage plans refund part of your $202.90 Part B premium
The standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, but some Medicare Advantage plans return part of that cost through a Part...
The 2027 Social Security raise is tracking near 3.8%, and the September inflation report completes the final calculation in October
The next Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is still an estimate, but the latest widely followed forecast puts it near 3.8%. That number can move because...
For eligible beneficiaries, the hold-harmless rule stops a rising Medicare Part B premium from shrinking a Social Security check
Medicare Part B premiums and Social Security benefits rise on separate tracks, creating a risk that a large premium increase could consume an entire cost-of-living...
One worker’s record can pay the worker, spouse and children up to about 180% of the worker’s Social Security
A Social Security record can support more than the worker who earned it. A spouse and eligible children may receive family benefits, but the combined...
Social Security stops adding delayed-retirement credits at 70, so waiting past your 70th birthday raises your check by nothing
Delayed Social Security claiming has a firm finish line. Retirement benefits can grow for each month a worker waits after full retirement age, but the...
Suspend your Social Security at full retirement age and each month adds a delayed credit worth about 8% a year until 70
A worker who already claimed Social Security is not necessarily locked into that payment for life. After full retirement age and before 70, retirement benefits...
A midyear hospital exit can raise Medicare Advantage costs toward a PPO limit averaging $9,825 in 2026
A hospital’s midyear departure from a Medicare Advantage network can turn a familiar care route into a more expensive plan problem. In 2026, preferred provider...
UnitedHealthcare exited 225 counties and Aetna exited 160 as Medicare Advantage insurers cut coverage for 2026
The national Medicare Advantage market remained large in 2026, but two major insurers pulled back from hundreds of local markets. UnitedHealthcare stopped offering plans in...
Social Security can withhold up to 50% of some monthly checks to claw back past overpayments
A Social Security overpayment notice can threaten the cash flow that pays rent, food and medical bills long before the disputed debt is resolved. For...
Skip Medicare Part D and other creditable drug coverage for 63 days and you may pay a lifelong late penalty
Medicare’s Part D late-enrollment penalty is not triggered merely because someone declines a drug plan on the first day of eligibility. The financial risk generally...