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Retirement Savings on the Rebound, Research Shows
401(k) account balances have gone up 93 percent, nearly double since the economic downturn in 2009 according to the latest research from the Principal Financial Group(R) . While much of the increase reflects a rebounding market, the study found a…
Medicare intends to penalize hospitals for giving followup care to seniors
Medicare has announced plans to penalize 2,633 hospitals for giving followup care to seniors, even if the care was appropriate. Northwestern Memorial in Chicago is the largest hospital in Illinois. It did 1,651 elective hip and knee replacements for Medicare in 2009-2012, and…
Tax consequences of disability insurance
As I lay here in a bed at the Cleveland Clinic with a surgically repaired broken femur I am wondering about the tax consequences of any disability insurance coverage that may be in place. Yes, Memorial Day weekend will be one…
Social Security Administration Annual Small Business Procurement Conference
The Social Security Administration will host the seventh annual Small Business Procurement Conference at agency headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference is Thursday, June 12, 2014 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Our theme is “Suppporting Those Who Served: Engaging…
We Can Do Better For Mothers: 3 Ways To Shore Up Financial Security
Like so many Americans, I spent time with my mom on Mother’s Day. Now 83, she is in a nursing home. She spent the last of her savings in less than a year to pay for the nursing care that…
Exclusive: Medicare on drugs: 24000 tests for 145 patients
Three Connecticut doctors billed Medicare for nearly 24,000 drug tests in 2012 – on just 145 patients. Despite the extraordinary number, Medicare administrators paid the doctors a total of $1.4 million, according to a Reuters analysis of government payments to…
Rare bipartisanship in Congress on retirement issues
Bipartisanship on vital retirement issues like Social Security reform would appear to be a pipedream, according to voting records tracked by the Alliance for Retired Americans.The advocate group for retirees released its annual report Thursday, scoring the voting records of…
The New Retirement: Beginning With the End in Mind
Picture a world in which every retiree is well-prepared for retirement and has a realistic idea of how much sustainable income they’ll need to last a lifetime. To get to this point, we must start thinking about “beginning with the…
New Reports: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Must Develop and Implement Payment Reforms Rapidly to Achieve Goals of Effective, Coordinated, Efficient Care
The new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMI) must be inclusive and flexible in developing and implementing payment initiatives, continuously monitor their impact, and rapidly disseminate them if they appear to be successful, in order to realize the potential…
Why Social Security lowballs benefit estimates
wife that are 10 years apart and age — how do you build a solid Social Security strategy? Expert Larry Kotlikoff notes an often neglected fact in his very thorough response: The Social Security Administration’s benefit online calculators cannot be…