Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Original Medicare covers no routine dental, vision, or hearing, a gap that surprises many the year they retire
Enrolling in Medicare at 65 does not close the most predictable health expenses of later life. Original Medicare, the federal program made up of Part...
$274 will be Medicare’s 2027 price for Ozempic and Wegovy, down 71%
Medicare’s negotiated price for the blockbuster semaglutide drugs will fall to $274 for a 30-day supply in 2027, a 71 percent cut from a list...
A dropped Medicare Advantage plan triggers a guaranteed right to buy any Medigap policy
When a Medicare Advantage plan terminates its contract or stops serving a member’s area, federal rules can open a guaranteed-issue window to buy a Medigap...
Fairview Health will drop UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage patients on January 1
Fairview Health will stop scheduling UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage patients on January 1, 2027, a contract split that pushes affected members out of network at one...
Social Security averages your highest 35 years, so one more working year can replace a zero and lift your check
Social Security builds a retirement benefit from the 35 highest-earning years of a person’s career, not from the final salary or the last few years...
Claim Social Security after full retirement age and you can request up to six months of benefits as a lump sum
Social Security lets people who wait past full retirement age to file collect a single retroactive payment worth up to six months of benefits, a...
Social Security’s 2027 raise could near 3.8%, adding about $74 a month
Social Security’s annual raise for 2027 could land near 3.8%, adding roughly $74 to the average monthly retirement check, based on the latest estimate from...
Social Security now gives five years to repay an overpayment, but tougher 2026 recovery rules can still claw back checks
Social Security has given people who owe the agency money more room to breathe, extending the time to repay an overpayment to five years, up...
Social Security now scans every SSI applicant’s bank accounts, running up to 10 geographic searches to catch hidden money
Social Security’s needs-based disability program leans on an automated bank check that reaches well beyond what an applicant writes on a form. Under the process,...
Divorced spouses married at least 10 years can claim up to half an ex’s Social Security, and it never lowers the ex’s check
A divorced spouse whose marriage lasted at least a decade can collect a Social Security benefit worth up to half of a former partner’s full...
A surviving spouse can collect 100% of a late husband or wife’s Social Security by waiting until survivor full retirement age
A widow or widower is entitled to a Social Security survivor benefit equal to 100 percent of what a late spouse was receiving, but that...
Who can get their entire $202.90 Medicare Part B premium paid? Limited-income seniors who join a Medicare Savings Program
The standard Medicare Part B premium climbed to $202.90 a month in 2026, a 9.7 percent jump from the $185 charged the year before, and...
Full retirement age has reached 67, and claiming at 62 now locks in a check about 30% smaller for life
The age at which Social Security pays a full, unreduced retirement benefit has finished its decades-long climb to 67 for everyone born in 1960 or...
25 health systems dropped Medicare Advantage, forcing 2.9 million seniors to switch in 2026
The strain on Medicare Advantage is now running in both directions. As insurers prune unprofitable markets, hospitals are cutting the other end of the contract,...
The Social Security 2100 Act would lift the minimum benefit to 125% of poverty, but it must clear the Senate first
The latest version of the Social Security 2100 Act, introduced in the House on June 29, would set a new floor under the program by...
Humana will drop Medicare Advantage plans for about 600,000 members in 2027, and open enrollment closes December 7
Humana told investors on August 2 that it will pull its Medicare Advantage plans out of enough counties to affect roughly 600,000 members for the...
Social Security taxes now reach wages up to $184,500
The 2026 Social Security wage ceiling moved to $184,500, exposing another $8,400 of earnings to the program’s payroll tax compared with 2025. The change matters...
Medicare’s 2027 drug-cost proposal claims $1.15 billion in patient savings
CMS estimates that a proposed change in how Medicare pays hospitals for certain discounted outpatient drugs would reduce beneficiary payments by $1.15 billion in 2027....
Medicare’s drug-payment plan can split annual costs into monthly bills
Medicare’s Prescription Payment Plan can replace a large pharmacy charge with a series of monthly bills from a Part D plan. It changes when covered...
Medicare surcharges start above $109,000 and can push Part B to $689.90
Medicare’s standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, but higher-income beneficiaries can pay far more through the income-related monthly adjustment amount. The...