medicare
What is Medicare Part A
What Is Medicare Part A? Medicare Part A helps cover your inpatient care in hospitals, critical access hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities (not custodial or long-term care). It also helps cover hospice care and some home health care. You must…
The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer’s Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers
(By Arthur Allen for KFF Health News) The first drug purporting to slow the advance of Alzheimer’s disease is likely to cost the U.S. health care system billions annually even as it remains out of reach for many of the…
Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its new dementia care model. The model, Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience or (GUIDE), will be tested by the CMS Innovation Center as part of an initiative for Increasing Access to…
How Do Dual-Eligible Individuals Get Their Medicare Coverage?
(By Maria T. Peña, Maiss Mohamed, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Juliette Cubanski, and Tricia Neuman for Kaiser Family Foundation Published: Jul 31, 2023) Medicare and Medicaid provide health coverage to 12.5 million individuals who are enrolled in both programs, known as…
The two events that could reduce your Social Security Increase in 2024
The Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Security benefits does not erode by inflation. COLA calculation is based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and…
Dealing With Hypocrisy: A Rebuttal to Complaints About Medicare Premiums and WEP/GPO
Creators Syndicates’ Tom Margenau, in a post on Tucson.com, uses his extensive experience as a Social Security Administration official to address two fundamental (and frequently recurring) complaints voiced by program beneficiaries questioning rulers that, in their opinion, are unjust. Margenau…
The current Medicare Advantage payment structure results in overpayments
Current research states that the millions of beneficiaries in traditional Medicare who have switched to Medicare Advantage plans have lower spending than those with similar health risks. Why is this important? CMS bases payments to Medicare Advantage health plans on…
Candidate Haley Advocates for Retirement Age Setbacks, Benefit Trimming for the Wealthy
The long road to the 2024 presidential election is now being traveled by a host of hopefuls, so it’s logical to expect an outpouring of viewpoints on key issues and, equally logical, to expect Social Security reform to be one…
Ask Rusty – I’m Approaching 65 – Should I Claim Social Security?
Dear Rusty: I am fast approaching 65 (in August) and plan to continue working full time. I would like to know the implications of that, and about drawing Social Security. Same question for my husband who is past his full…
Understanding Medicare and Medicare Advantage
Seniors approaching–or, already at–Medicare eligibility are often bombarded by ads, promotions, “advice,” and general conversation about the differences between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. It happens every year at Annual Enrollment time, causing many senors to wonder what their…