Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Working retirees can earn about $25,200 in 2027 before Social Security withholds any benefits.
Retirees who keep working in 2027 will face a familiar squeeze: earn too much from a part-time or consulting job, and the Social Security Administration...
$274 a month is Medicare’s new 2027 price for Ozempic and Wegovy, a 71% cut that saves seniors an estimated $685 million.
Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Ozempic or Wegovy will pay no more than $274 a month for those drugs starting Jan. 1, 2027, after the...
Remarry after 60 and you keep a late spouse’s Social Security survivor benefit.
Widows and widowers who find love again after turning 60 do not have to choose between a new marriage and the Social Security survivor benefits...
Ohio State’s cancer hospital leaves Humana’s Medicare Advantage network October 1.
Medicare Advantage enrollees who rely on Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center for cancer treatment face a hard deadline. Effective October 1, 2026, multiple Humana...
Older Americans not yet on Medicare are paying thousands more for health coverage this year after enhanced ACA subsidies expired.
Adults between 55 and 64 who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are absorbing sharp premium increases in 2026 after...
Presbyterian Health Plan is dropping most Medicare Advantage coverage for 2027, forcing 30,000 members to switch
Roughly 30,000 Medicare Advantage members in New Mexico face the loss of their Presbyterian Health Plan coverage heading into 2027, after the regional insurer announced...
Delaying Social Security until 70 usually pays off only if you live past about age 80
Americans born in 1960 or later who wait until age 70 to collect Social Security retirement benefits receive 124% of their primary insurance amount, compared...
Roth IRA withdrawals never count toward the income that lifts Medicare premiums
Retirees drawing from Roth IRAs can spend down those accounts without triggering higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, a tax advantage that grows...
More than a dozen states tax no retirement income, including Social Security and pensions
Retirees deciding where to live face a direct financial question: will the state tax their Social Security checks, pension payments, or other retirement distributions? More...
A widow can take a survivor benefit first and let her own Social Security grow until 70
Surviving spouses who earned their own Social Security benefits face a high-stakes timing decision that can shift their lifetime income by tens of thousands of...
Miss your Medicare Part B window and a 10%-a-year penalty can cling to your premium for life
Americans who delay signing up for Medicare Part B face a financial penalty that compounds with every year of inaction and never goes away. Federal...
Claim Social Security, regret it within a year, and you can withdraw the application, repay, and restart for more
Retirees who claimed Social Security benefits too early and now wish they had waited face a narrow federal escape hatch: withdraw the application within 12...
Cooling inflation just trimmed the 2027 Social Security raise estimate, with one analyst cutting hers from 4.7% to 3.7%
Millions of Social Security recipients expecting a sizable raise in January 2027 may need to adjust their expectations. Analyst Mary Johnson recently cut her 2027...
A veteran’s surviving spouse can draw tax-free survivor pay of about $1,700 a month
A surviving spouse whose veteran died from a service-connected cause can receive a monthly payment of $1,699.36, tax-free, under the Department of Veterans Affairs Dependency...
Retiring before 65, COBRA can bridge your health coverage up to 18 months until Medicare
Americans who leave the workforce before turning 65 face a gap in health coverage that can last months or even years before Medicare kicks in....
A newly reintroduced Social Security 2100 Act would lift every retiree’s check and raise the minimum benefit, but Congress still must act
Tens of millions of Social Security recipients could see larger monthly checks and a higher floor on the program’s minimum benefit if Congress passes the...
Giving your house to the kids can trigger a five-year Medicaid penalty
Families who deed a home to their children to protect it from nursing-home costs can lose Medicaid long-term care coverage for up to five years....
You get one six-month window at 65 to buy any Medigap policy with no health questions
Americans turning 65 face a deadline that can shape the cost and availability of their health coverage for the rest of their lives. Federal law...
Medicare’s fall open enrollment opens October 15, and more seniors than ever will find their Advantage plan dropped or overhauled for 2027
Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans face a turbulent fall. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized new payment rules and risk-adjustment policies...
Waiting until 70 locks in Social Security’s biggest check, about $5,108 a month in 2026
High earners who delay Social Security retirement benefits to age 70 will collect the program’s largest possible monthly payment in 2026: $5,181, according to the...