Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Some New York Medicaid adults who apply before Jan. 1 or renew before March 1, 2027 get 12 months of coverage if eligible, state and Westchester County say
New York is giving some Medicaid adults a full year of coverage before a new six-month renewal cycle begins, if the application comes before Jan....
Wellcare says it has nearly 10 million members in its Medicare drug plans
Wellcare, the Medicare brand of insurer Centene, says its standalone Medicare drug plans have nearly 10 million members across all 50 states. The figure comes...
Alignment Health expands its California Medicare Advantage plans into Kern, Kings and Tulare counties
Alignment Health said on Oct. 7 that its Medicare Advantage plans will reach Kern, Kings and Tulare counties in California on Jan. 1, 2027, bringing...
The Railroad Retirement Board says it has no additional information on the $90 Medicare rebate
The Railroad Retirement Board has posted a notice saying it has no additional information about the $90 Medicare Part B premium rebate the Administration announced...
Clover Health keeps 203 counties for 2027, with a $0-to-low-premium Medicare Advantage PPO
Clover Health says its 2027 Medicare Advantage plans will be sold in 203 counties across five states, the same footprint as 2026, and that the...
Humana is cutting or ending the Part B giveback for most of its Medicare Advantage members in 2027, Leerink analysts estimate
Humana cut or eliminated the Part B premium giveback for 62 percent of its Medicare Advantage members in its 2027 plans, according to Whit Mayo,...
Virginia’s Valley Health lists UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage as accepted only through Sept. 30, 2026
Valley Health, the Winchester, Virginia, hospital system, lists UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage on its accepted-insurance page as “Accepted through 9/30/2026,” and the system says it has...
Humana individual Medicare Advantage members who lost Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center on Oct. 1 have until Oct. 31 to switch plans for a Nov. 1 start
Humana’s individual Medicare Advantage members lost in-network access to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, The James Cancer Center and OSU-affiliated physicians on Oct. 1,...
Virginia says as many as 300,000 of its 550,000 Medicaid expansion members may be at risk when federal work rules begin on January 1, 2027
Virginia’s Medicaid agency says as many as 300,000 of the roughly 550,000 adults covered through Medicaid expansion may be at risk of losing coverage when...
Aetna will offer at least one $0-premium Medicare Advantage plan in every county it serves in 41 states and D.C. for 2027, CVS Health says
Aetna will sell Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans in 41 states and Washington, D.C. for 2027, and at least one plan in every county where...
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is pulling Medicare Advantage drug plans from 177 counties for 2027 and will sell them only in Michigan and Wyoming, KFF says
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will stop selling Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage in 177 counties for 2027, and it will offer them...
CVS is withdrawing its SilverScript Choice Medicare drug plan from 13 regions for 2027, so those members will need new drug coverage, KFF says
CVS Health is pulling its SilverScript Choice stand-alone Medicare drug plan out of 13 of the 34 Part D regions for 2027, according to a...
AARP Medicare Rx Preferred members who stay in the plan face 2027 premium increases above $75 a month in 37 states and above $100 in four, KFF finds
Members of AARP Medicare Rx Preferred, the stand-alone drug plan sold by UnitedHealthcare, face a steep premium increase in 2027 if they keep the plan...
Lee Health will be out of network for UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans on January 1, 2027, while UnitedHealthcare and AARP Medigap plans are unaffected
Lee Health’s hospitals and physicians will be out of network for UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage plans beginning January 1, 2027, after the Fort Myers system told...
Veterans at six VA medical centers can set up VA online benefit accounts at free CLEAR identity stations under a pilot that began October 7
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Oct. 7 launched a pilot that lets veterans create VA.gov accounts at identity-scanning stations inside six VA medical centers....
WellSense will stop offering Medicare Advantage statewide in New Hampshire for 2027, leaving members to pick new coverage by December 7 or through a special window that ends in February
WellSense Health Plan will not offer Medicare Advantage anywhere in New Hampshire in 2027, ending coverage in all 10 counties where it sold plans this...
The Trump administration is putting up to $27.8 million into falls prevention for older adults, as non-fatal falls cost an estimated $80 billion a year in health spending
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced October 9 that it is putting up to $27.8 million over three years into 10 falls-prevention...
HMSA raises 2027 premiums to $240 a month on two Akamai Advantage Medicare plans, up from $160 and $151
HMSA, Hawaii’s largest health insurer, has told about 16,000 Medicare Advantage members that their Akamai Advantage Complete Plus and Standard Plus plans will not be...
Medicare users could pay extra for titanium or carbon-fiber ultralightweight wheelchairs starting in 2028 under a bill now headed to Trump
The Senate passed the Choices for Increased Mobility Act, H.R. 1703, by voice vote without amendment on September 30, clearing the last congressional step and...
Four Medicare Advantage drug plans carry Medicare’s low-performing warning for 2027, and members of plans rated under 3 stars for three straight years can leave anytime
The federal government flagged four Medicare Advantage drug contracts with its low-performing icon in the 2027 Star Ratings, released October 8, the same count as...