Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
At 65 or older, Part B enrollment gives you one 6-month window to buy any Medigap policy sold in your state
Medigap’s strongest federal buying protection is tied to two events, not one birthday. The six-month open-enrollment period begins on the first day of the month...
Medicare Advantage plans face tighter supplemental-benefit rules for 2027
Medicare Advantage benefits will enter 2027 under tighter federal administration rules, but the government has not ordered plans across the country to eliminate dental, vision...
Medicare’s inpatient hospital deductible rose to $1,736 in 2026, $60 more than 2025
A hospital admission under Original Medicare now starts with a larger Part A charge. The inpatient deductible is $1,736 for 2026, an increase of $60...
Medicare’s trustees estimate the 2027 Part B premium at $209.50, though CMS has not set the final amount
Medicare’s trustees estimate that the standard Part B premium will reach $209.50 a month in 2027, but that number is not the final bill. CMS...
A 2025 law repealing two benefit-cutting rules led Social Security to adjust about 3.2 million records
A long-running reduction in Social Security benefits for many teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees is no longer part of the law. The...
Mayo Clinic may be out of network for some UnitedHealthcare and Humana Medicare Advantage plans, potentially forcing patients to switch or pay more
A Medicare Advantage card does not guarantee the same Mayo Clinic access across every product carrying an insurer’s name. Some UnitedHealthcare and Humana members may...
Social Security is phasing out paper checks, and recipients without a bank account can use a Direct Express card
Social Security is completing its move away from paper checks, but a conventional bank account is not required to receive a benefit electronically. The Treasury-sponsored...
A surviving spouse can claim a one-time $255 Social Security death benefit
Social Security can pay an eligible surviving spouse a one-time $255 lump sum after a covered worker dies. The amount is small beside funeral and...
The Supplemental Security Income savings cap is still $2,000, a limit frozen since 1989
Supplemental Security Income still limits an individual to $2,000 in countable resources and an eligible couple to $3,000. Those dollar amounts have not moved since...
Medicare Advantage members get a Jan. 1 to March 31 window to switch plans or return to Original Medicare
The first three months of every year give Medicare Advantage enrollees a narrow correction window after new coverage has taken effect. From January 1 through...
A child can collect Social Security on a retired, disabled or deceased parent’s record
Social Security is commonly described as a worker’s retirement check, but the same earnings record can support a child when a parent retires, develops a...
A widow or widower can claim a survivor benefit as early as 60, though the check is permanently reduced
Survivor benefits create one of Social Security’s most consequential timing choices because a surviving spouse can begin receiving money years before ordinary retirement benefits reach...
Waiting until 70 lifts the top Social Security check to $5,181 in 2026
The largest new Social Security retirement benefit available to a qualifying worker who claims at age 70 in 2026 is $5,181 a month. That figure...
Workers under full retirement age can earn up to $24,480 in 2026 before Social Security holds back benefits
Social Security allows retirement beneficiaries to keep working, but people below full retirement age face an earnings test that can temporarily reduce their checks. For...
Fifteen Medicare drugs, including Ozempic, get 38% to 85% price cuts in 2027
Medicare has finished negotiating a second group of prescription-drug prices, and the new figures take effect on January 1, 2027. The list covers 15 widely...
Checking your Social Security earnings record can catch a missing year that quietly shrinks your check for life
A single blank year buried in a Social Security earnings record can follow a worker into retirement and drain money from every monthly check for...
Medicare’s old Part D “donut hole” is gone, so drug costs no longer spike partway through the year
For years, Medicare drug coverage carried a trap that caught patients by surprise every summer. After a plan and a beneficiary had spent a certain...
SSI recipients get no deposit in August — the payment arrived July 31, and the next lands September 1
Millions of people who rely on Supplemental Security Income will look for a payment in August and find none arriving. The reason is a quirk...
A program called PACE blends Medicare and Medicaid to keep frail seniors at home instead of a nursing facility
When a parent grows frail enough to qualify for a nursing home, most families assume the facility is the only place that level of care...
A handful of states let you change Medigap plans each year around your birthday with no new health questions
For most people on Medicare, changing a Medigap policy after the first six months means answering health questions and risking a denial or a steep...