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Mark Halperin’s epic fail: Actually, nuclear option will save Medicare
When Harry Reid invoked the “nuclear option” last week to permanently prohibit filibustering judicial and executive branch nominees (SCOTUS excepted) he invited a brief surge of ritualistic navel gazing by a class of political pundits who also tend to spend…
Social Security for the Life-Cycle
As Congress nears the month-long mark of budget negotiations, a recent poll by Public Policy Polling found that voters in key swing states and districts both overwhelmingly oppose reducing social security and support expanding the long-time federal social insurance program. The findings,…
Who will buy Social Security for Gen Y?
The Great Recession of 2007 had a number of significant effects on Generation Y, but one of the least talked about was its effect on birth rates. Whether due to stress, financial issues or simply because it’s tough to find…
Medicare Advantage: How It Works
Medicare Advantage is a segment of the federal government’s Medicare program and provides health coverage for Americans 65 and over, as well as those with disabilities. Like the federally administered version of Medicare (known as Original Medicare), Medicare Advantage covers basic medical expenses like doctor and hospital visits.…
More than 10.1 says million paid disability last year
More than 10.1 million people were paid disability benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance program in 2012, 2.5 percent of whom were disabled widows or widowers. According to the most recent report from the Social Security Administration, awards to 960,206 disabled…
Kaiser Family Foundation Releases Study on 2014 Medicare Advantage
Kaiser’s study found small rate increases for 2014 and a (proportionally) small number of disenrollments in 2014. Approximately a half a million Medicare beneficiaries will need to switch plans in 2014, or about 5% of all those enrolled in MA.…
Gen Y is increasingly saving for their retirement
Remember when you were in elementary school and your teacher asked you to write an essay about what you would like to be when you grow up? Well, think about that same question but now about what you would like…
AMA Acts on Medicare Payment as Congress Considers Legislation
In response to news from Capitol Hill that a legislative proposal was in play to end the much-derided sustainable growth rate (SGR) component of the Medicare payment formula, the AMA voted during its recent Interim Meeting in Washington, D.C., to…
Putting stock in Social Security
One way to shore up the Social Security trust fund is to invest it in something with a better return than U.S. Treasury bonds. The idea has been floated off and on for years and is always rejected. But, when Steven…
QE Is Hazardous To Your Retirement
This article provides an analysis of the affects that the Federal Reserves’s Quantitative Easing (QA) program has had on the long-term retirement plans of many elderly Americans. The impact of low interest rates and continuous money supply expansion are explained,…