medicare
When is Medicare Part A free?
For most seniors, the FICA payroll tax they pay when working includes an amount for Medicare’s “Part A” – which is Medicare coverage for inpatient hospitalization services. Those payroll contributions, made for at least 10 years of working, result in…
Medicare boosts reimbursement rates; good news for insurers
Shares for U.S. health insurers went up on the stock market yesterday, based on an announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that they will raise reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans starting in 2026. This is…
Who is enrolling in Medicare Advantage?
The creation of Medicare Advantage health plans was part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Medicare Advantage grew from almost zero in 1998 to 33.8 million subscribers in 2024, or 55 percent of Medicare recipients. One reason Medicare recipients enroll…
Medicare penalties
Medicare Penalty refers to the additional costs imposed for not enrolling in Medicare or its components (like Part D) during the designated enrollment periods. Understanding how these penalties are calculated and how long they last is essential to managing your…
Operationalizing the scope of the Medicare drug negotiations
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allowed Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of certain high-expenditure, single-source drugs without generic or biosimilar competition. The first set of negotiated prices will take effect in 2026. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…
Medicare’s efforts to root out improper payments, fraud, waste and abuse
The Medicare program covers 68 million people and represents 15 percent of all federal spending. There are 1.4 million healthcare providers and almost a dozen different payment systems; improper payments and fraud have occurred. Despite actions over the years to reduce…
The latest Medicare scam
A new Medicare scam is on the rise, entitizing seniors to “free” or at “no cost to you” genetic testing. These scammers try to convince you by saying it will help detect certain diseases, such as cancers. They will arrange…
Don’t forget healthcare when planning your retirement
Of course, healthcare in the form of coverage for doctor visits and medical tests are, for most Americans, substantially covered by Medicare and/or Medicare Advantage plans from private insurers. But reality is that Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and a potentially…
“Telehealth” restrictions may happen later this year with Medicare
“Telehealth” – meeting with your doctors over the phone or online, came into being earnestly during the pandemic. That’s because of pandemic-induced restrictions and the fear of COVID-19 – restrictions and fears which have large gone by the wayside. Nevertheless,…
Ask Rusty – Will My Medicare Premium Change because I Sold Investment Property?
Dear Rusty: I have questions concerning the deduction of money from my Social Security benefit amount as relates to the sale of investment property. I am 66 years old and have been drawing Social Security since I turned 62. My…