Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Sanders proposes a $2,400 Social Security raise funded by earnings above $250,000
Bernie Sanders is renewing a Social Security expansion plan built around two linked numbers: a $2,400 annual benefit increase and new payroll-tax collections on earnings...
UnitedHealthcare exits CalPERS basic plans, forcing some Medicare families to switch carriers
CalPERS is removing two UnitedHealthcare Basic health plans for 2027, creating a carrier decision for households that pair a non-Medicare family member with a Medicare...
Medigap’s six-month enrollment window blocks health-based denials and higher prices
Medigap buyers receive one unusually powerful federal protection: a six-month period when medical history cannot be used to shut them out or inflate the premium....
An aged widow or widower receives an estimated $1,919 monthly on average in 2026
Social Security estimated that an aged widow or widower receiving benefits alone would average $1,919 a month after the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment. The number is...
$4,152 is Social Security’s 2026 maximum at full retirement age
Social Security’s maximum monthly retirement benefit for a worker claiming at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152. Reaching it requires far more than waiting...
Some noncitizens lose Social Security after six full months outside the United States
Social Security retirement, survivor and disability payments can stop for some noncitizens after a sixth full calendar month outside the United States, even though the...
Disabled adult children may collect on a parent’s record when disability began before 22
An adult whose qualifying disability began before age 22 may receive Social Security on a parent’s earnings record, even when that adult never worked enough...
$1,890 in 2026 earnings buys one Social Security credit
Every $1,890 of covered earnings in 2026 earns one Social Security credit, up to four credits for the year. The system measures annual earnings rather...
$2,830 is the monthly blind-work threshold before Social Security calls it substantial
Social Security uses $2,830 a month as the 2026 earnings level that generally indicates substantial gainful activity for a person who meets the agency’s blindness...
$2,410 in monthly earnings can stay outside SSI for students under 22
A working student under age 22 can earn as much as $2,410 in a month without those wages entering the Supplemental Security Income calculation, but...
Hospice drugs can cost $5 per prescription under Medicare, while respite care can cost 5%
Medicare hospice is often described as a no-cost benefit, yet two targeted charges remain inside it. A patient can owe up to $5 for each...
Medicare-covered ambulance rides leave patients paying 20% after the Part B deductible
An ambulance can be medically necessary, covered by Medicare, and still leave a substantial bill. Under Original Medicare, Part B generally pays 80% of the...
Medicare screening mammograms cost $0, while diagnostic tests usually cost 20% after the deductible
The same mammography machine can produce two very different Medicare bills. A routine screening can carry no patient cost when the provider accepts assignment, while...
Covered Medicare home health visits cost $0, but medical equipment usually costs 20%
Medicare’s home health benefit draws a bright cost line inside a service that often feels like one package. Covered nursing, therapy, and home health visits...
$217 a day hits Medicare skilled-nursing patients from day 21 through day 100
A covered rehabilitation stay can change from no daily coinsurance to a $217 charge overnight when an Original Medicare patient reaches day 21 in a...
A family’s Social Security total can top out at 150% to 180% of the worker’s benefit
A spouse and children can each qualify for Social Security on one worker’s earnings record, but the individual awards do not simply stack without limit....
Social Security can trim $57 a month for a fee-charging representative payee
A representative payee usually cannot charge a Social Security beneficiary for managing a check. The exception is a qualified organization that receives written authorization from...
New earnings can raise a retiree’s Social Security check retroactive to January
A retiree who keeps working can receive more than wages from the extra year. Social Security reviews working beneficiaries’ earnings records annually and recalculates the...
$1,690 in monthly earnings can stop a disability check after Social Security’s trial period
The same paycheck can be harmless to an SSDI benefit in one month and stop it in another. During Social Security’s nine-month trial work period,...
Social Security disability beneficiaries can test working for nine months and keep full checks
Returning to work does not automatically shut off Social Security Disability Insurance. The program gives beneficiaries at least nine trial-work months in which earnings can...