Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
An HSA can pay Medicare premiums tax-free, but never a Medigap policy
A retiree who assumes every Medicare-related premium can be paid tax-free out of a Health Savings Account is only half right, and the half that’s...
Kettering and Lehigh Valley are dropping Medicare Advantage, pushing patients out of network
Kettering Health in Ohio and Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania have already ended their Medicare Advantage contracts with major insurers, and Becker’s Hospital Review’s...
UnitedHealthcare may exit 34 counties in 12 states for 2027 Medicare Advantage
UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage insurer, has floated a preliminary list of 34 counties across 12 states it may drop from its 2027 Medicare...
Providence Health Plan is shutting down entirely for 2027, and more than 64,000 Medicare Advantage members must find new coverage
Providence Health Plan will close its entire book of business rather than simply drop a market, a decision that leaves more than 64,000 Medicare Advantage...
Wellcare is dropping 133 Medicare Advantage plans, forcing 340,000 members to switch
Centene’s Wellcare brand is eliminating 133 Medicare Advantage plans across Oklahoma, Tennessee and Hawaii for the 2027 plan year, a retreat the company disclosed alongside...
When a Medicare Advantage plan drops you for 2027, you gain a guaranteed right to buy any Medigap policy
A Medicare Advantage plan that will not return for 2027 does more than send a member back into the market for new coverage. Under federal...
A Medicare Advantage plan must cover emergencies anywhere, even out of network
A Medicare Advantage enrollee who has a heart attack while traveling out of state does not need to find an in-network hospital first. Federal regulation...
Claiming Social Security at 62 permanently cuts the check up to 30%
Filing for Social Security at the earliest possible age, 62, does not just start payments sooner — it permanently locks in a smaller monthly check...
Medicare covers a screening colonoscopy at no cost, but removing a polyp during it can turn it into a billed procedure
Medicare’s screening colonoscopy is one of the few tests in American health care that is genuinely free at the point of care — until the...
Original Medicare pays nothing toward routine dental, vision or hearing care
Original Medicare covers hospital stays, doctor visits and a long list of medical services, but it draws a hard line at three categories many new...
Medicare’s Part B late-enrollment penalty adds 10% a year, for life
A retiree who waits too long to sign up for Medicare Part B does not face a one-time late fee. Medicare adds 10 percent to...
Filing for Social Security before full retirement age can force you to take a spousal benefit at the same time
Anyone who assumes they can file for a spouse’s Social Security benefit at 63 while letting their own retirement benefit keep growing toward age 70...
SSDI’s trial-work period lets you test a job for nine months, penalty-free
A Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiary who wants to find out whether they can handle a job again does not have to choose between staying...
Social Security’s disability grid gives applicants over 50 an easier approval
Two people can file for Social Security Disability Insurance with the identical back injury and the identical doctor’s notes, and one can be approved while...
Medicare drug plans get pricier for 2027, and the government expects 45% of enrollees to pay more than $10 extra a month
Medicare’s drug-plan premiums are about to move in a direction most enrollees have not seen in two years: up. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...
Defaulted student loans can now take 15% of a Social Security check, and about 452,000 retirees are in the government’s sights
The federal government can now withhold up to 15% of a monthly Social Security check to collect on a defaulted federal student loan, and roughly...
Supplemental Security Income usually brings Medicaid automatically the same month
A Supplemental Security Income award worth $994 a month in 2026 carries a second, quieter payout: in most states, the same approval that starts the...
Original Medicare covers the first 60 days of a hospital stay
Original Medicare’s inpatient hospital deductible for 2026 is $1,736, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services records show that figure buys a beneficiary something unusual...
Medicare’s Part D late penalty adds 1% for every uncovered month, permanently
Every month a Medicare beneficiary goes without Part D or other creditable prescription drug coverage adds a permanent 1 percent surcharge to the eventual drug...
Medicare’s yearly cap on drug costs starts over every January
Every enrollee in Medicare’s drug benefit who reaches catastrophic coverage watches the meter reset to zero the instant the calendar turns to January. The reset...