Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
A House bill called the Medicare Advantage Improvement Act of 2026 would tighten the rules insurers use to deny care
Six lawmakers from both parties, led by Pennsylvania Republican John Joyce, introduced H.R. 8375, the Medicare Advantage Improvement Act, on April 23, 2026, alongside a...
The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act would force Medicare Advantage plans to answer prior-authorization requests electronically
A House committee voted 42 to 0 on July 15 to advance the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, pushing a Medicare Advantage prior-authorization...
Insulin stays capped at $35 a month under Medicare drug plans in 2027
A one-month supply of each covered insulin product will still cost no more than $35 in 2027, the same figure that has held since the...
Medicare’s open enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, the only stretch most seniors can change a plan for January
October 15 opens the only 54-day stretch each year when most people with Medicare can rewrite their coverage for the following January, and the 2027...
Aetna zeroed out broker commissions on 123 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027
Aetna told third-party marketing organizations this month that it will pay no commission to agents and brokers who enroll new members in 123 of its...
Presbyterian Health Plan is ending most Medicare Advantage plans for 2027
Presbyterian Health Plan is eliminating most of its Medicare Advantage plans for the 2027 plan year, a move that will force roughly 30,000 New Mexico...
Medicare Advantage plans get a 2.48% payment raise for 2027
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services locked in a 2.48 percent average payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans heading into 2027, a final number...
Medicare Advantage plans are expected to keep the $0 premium for 2027 while trimming a $75 grocery card to $35
Medicare Advantage insurers are on pace to hold the $0 monthly premium into 2027 even as the supplemental extras that make that premium attractive shrink...
A Medicare Savings Program can pay a senior’s entire Part B premium, now $202.90 a month
A Medicare Savings Program can erase a beneficiary’s entire Part B premium, but the benefit lives inside state Medicaid rules, not anywhere near a Medicare...
Medicare’s Part B deductible rose $26 to $283 this year
The annual deductible for Medicare Part B rose $26 to $283 for 2026, and the standard monthly premium climbed $17.90 to $202.90, the Centers for...
Checking your Social Security earnings record online can catch an employer’s mistake that would shrink the check for life
A single year of underreported wages sitting on a worker’s Social Security earnings record can shrink a retirement check for life, because the benefit formula...
A short list of countries blocks Social Security payments to Americans living there
Two countries on earth carry an absolute legal bar on a Social Security deposit: Cuba and North Korea, blocked under a Treasury Department sanctions program...
Money withheld by Social Security’s earnings test comes back later as a higher monthly check at full retirement age
A worker who claims Social Security at 62 in 2026 and keeps earning past $24,480 a year will have the agency withhold $1 of every...
A retiree working past 70 earns no more delayed Social Security credits
Age 70 marks a hard stop that catches many working retirees off guard: the delayed retirement credit, the 8 percent-a-year increase Social Security pays anyone...
Social Security benefits become taxable above $25,000 of combined income for a single filer, a line never adjusted for inflation
A single retiree owes federal tax on part of a Social Security check the moment combined income passes $25,000 a year, a threshold Congress fixed...
The Social Security Administration has paid out $17 billion in Fairness Act back pay, and a fight remains over 6 versus 12 months
The Social Security Administration finished sending more than 3.1 million retroactive payments worth $17 billion to people affected by the repeal of the Windfall Elimination...
Social Security is widening a bank-account screening tool that flags an overpayment before it grows into a debt
As of April 2026, the Social Security Administration checks bank accounts down to a zero-dollar tolerance before approving Supplemental Security Income payments to blind and...
Social Security’s new appointment-first system cuts the average booked wait to about six minutes
Six minutes: that is the average wait the Social Security Administration now reports for beneficiaries who book an appointment before visiting a field office, according...
A couple on Supplemental Security Income gets $1,491 a month in 2026
Two individual Supplemental Security Income checks of $994 apiece add up to $1,988 a month. A married couple drawing the same benefit together receives $1,491,...
Social Security’s payroll tax stops at $184,500 of wages in 2026
Social Security’s payroll tax will apply to $8,400 more in wages for 2026, after the Social Security Administration raised the taxable maximum from $176,100 to...