medicare
Demystifying the Federal Payroll Tax
Nearly all workers pay it, but very few understand it – the Federal Payroll Tax. With few exceptions,[1] everyone who works and earns pays the federal payroll tax from their earnings – that’s about 175 million American workers. The tax, first…
Your Social Security benefit won’t be cut in 2026
If you are worried about your Social Security payment going down in 2026, you likely should not be. Your monthly benefit is based upon your lifetime earnings while working and, except for cost-of-living adjustments (increases), your monthly payment will not…
Do you qualify for a Medicare Special Needs Plans?
Individuals eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage are referred to as Medicare dual-eligible. The individual can enroll in a Special Needs Plan (SNP) where a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan coordinates the care plan designed to provide targeted care and…
What does Medicare-approved amount mean?
Do you know the difference between what your provider bills Medicare and the amount paid by Medicare? It is called the Medicare-approved amount. The Medicare-approved amount is the total payment that Medicare has agreed to pay a health care provider…
Estimated 2026 Part B premium
Most of us did not read the entire 267 pages of the 2025 Medicare Trustees report. If you did, you would already know that the Trustees are projecting the 2026 Part B premium to be $206.50, an 11.6 percent increase.…
Americans underestimate the cost of long-term care
Medicare and most health insurance, including Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap), don’t pay for long-term care. This type of care (also called “custodial care” or “long-term services and support”) includes medical and non-medical care for people who have a chronic illness…
What Medicare does not cover
A recent survey conducted by The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 23 percent of adults under 65 and 45 percent of those aged 65 and older believed that Medicare would cover the cost of time in a nursing home or…
103,000 Medicare Beneficiaries are getting new Medicare numbers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have notified 103,000 Medicare beneficiaries that their personal information was used to create accounts on Medicare.gov. On May 2, 2025, the Medicare call center began receiving calls from beneficiaries who had received…
Access to mental health under Medicare
Medicare does not cover all healthcare services for older adults; however, one area of healthcare that is particularly challenging to access under Medicare is mental healthcare. “According to a study in JAMA Health Forum, adults with psychological distress saw a…
CMS Launches New Model to Target Wasteful, Inappropriate Services in Original Medicare
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will partner with companies specializing in enhanced technologies to ensure people with original Medicare receive safe, effective, and necessary care. The Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) will build upon other changes…