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Medicare Advantage at risk for seniors and disabled
Nearly 15 million seniors and people with disabilities are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan in this country. That number adds up to almost one third of the total Medicare population. Some provisions in the new Affordable Care Act (ACA), if…
Legislation would exempt social security benefits from R.I. income tax
A Republican state lawmaker wants Rhode Island to join the majority of states that exempt social security benefits from the local income tax. Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, says the proposal would encourage the some 60,000 elderly residents that currently pay taxes…
Retirement plans for small business owners
Americans ages 55 to 64 are fast becoming entrepreneurs. In fact, the share of new entrepreneurs in that age group grew from 14.3% to 23.4% from 1996 to 2012, according to the 2013 Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. And if you’re…
Medicare’s doc fix insanity
Seniors are likely unaware that, until a few days before Christmas, they were on the verge of losing access to physicians on New Year’s Eve. If Congress had not acted, Medicare’s fees paid to physicians would have dropped by one quarter overnight,…
South Africa’s Welfare Success Story II: Poverty-Reducing Social Grants
Despite being a middle-income country, by international standards South Africa has an extensive and progressively targeted social security system. But is the scheme genuinely contributing to declining levels of poverty and inequality in the country? And what of the concerns…
50th anniversaries shame today’s government: Our view
This month saw the anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty.” In the summer, Americans will pause to recall passage of the Civil Rights Act. Next year, the Voting Rights Act and the founding of Medicare and Medicaid will…
Research on ‘Eldersourcing’ sparks dialogue on retirement
For five years, cultural anthropologist Caitrin Lynch immersed herself in the working environment of Vita Needle Company in Needham, Mass., a family-owned business that makes a practice of hiring older workers, so many in fact that the median age of…
RETIREMENT PLANNING: Know your numbers
Do you know exactly how much money you will need in retirement? Do you know exactly how much you spent last month? Do you know exactly how much you will spend every month once you are retired? Do you know…
Medicare can’t afford not to cut costly private payments
Health insurance companies have started a campaign to protect the government payments they get for operating private Medicare plans. Anybody who wants to see the United States rein in its bloated and inefficient health care system, and keep the Affordable…
Home Birth Offers Many Risks With Little Benefit:
Home birth is gaining in popularity in the U.S., but new research found that the risk may not be worth the benefit. A report published this week in the Journal of Medical Ethics focused primarily on how being delivered at home can impact children…