Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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A parent 62 or older who depended on a child who died can collect Social Security survivor benefits
Most Social Security survivor claims run in one direction: a spouse or child collects on a worker’s record after that worker dies. A narrow rule runs the other way. Social Security’s survivor eligibility page allows a parent who is 62 or older and was financially dependent on a child who died to file a survivor…
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Medicare Advantage members whose plan is leaving get a non-renewal notice in October
Medicare requires a plan that will not return for the next coverage year to tell its members before the annual shopping season gets underway. Medicare.gov’s guidance on plan non-renewal says that notice goes out in October, and it tells a member plainly to find a new plan for coverage starting the following January. Nothing in…
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Workers who leave a job after 65 get eight months to sign up for Medicare Part B without a penalty, and COBRA doesn’t extend it
Turning 65 does not force a Medicare Part B enrollment on someone who is still working and covered by a group health plan through an employer. Medicare.gov’s rules give that person an eight-month window to sign up for Part B without penalty once the job or the group coverage ends, whichever happens first. Electing COBRA…
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Medicare Advantage members whose plan leaves Medicare can buy a Medigap policy with guaranteed rights from 60 days before to 63 days after coverage ends
A Medicare Advantage plan that leaves the Medicare program entirely triggers one of the stronger consumer protections built into Medigap: a right to buy certain Medicare Supplement policies with no health questions asked. Medicare.gov sets that window at 60 days before the old coverage ends through 63 days after it ends. Miss both ends of…
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Ex-spouses married at least 10 years can qualify for Social Security survivor benefits
A single number decides whether a divorce closes the door on a former spouse’s Social Security survivor benefit: ten years of marriage. Social Security’s survivor eligibility page treats a marriage that reached that mark much like a marriage that lasted until death, opening the same survivor claim to a former spouse who qualifies. Falling even…
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Obamacare applications filed through agents or brokers must now list Social Security or immigration numbers for all but newborns under a Trump crackdown
Anyone applying for an Affordable Care Act Marketplace plan through an insurance agent or broker must now supply a Social Security number or an immigration document number for every person on the application except a newborn, under a new identity check the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced this month. CMS paired the requirement…
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Widows and widowers with a disability can claim Social Security survivor benefits at 50
Sixty is the standard starting line for a widow or widower’s Social Security survivor benefit. The Social Security Administration moves that line back a full decade, to 50, for a widow or widower who has a qualifying disability. The rule sits on the agency’s survivor eligibility page alongside the marriage-length and remarriage tests that decide…
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Medicare Advantage members whose plan isn’t renewing can switch plans from December 8 through the end of February
A Medicare Advantage plan that stops operating for 2027 does not leave its members without a next step. Medicare.gov’s special enrollment rules set a window for switching to a new plan or falling back to Original Medicare, running from December 8 through the last day of February. A member who lets that window close is…
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Credit Acceptance borrowers with risky loans made since December 2025 can qualify for 95% debt relief under a five-year program starting November 2
Credit Acceptance Corporation, one of the country’s largest subprime auto lenders, agreed to give some future borrowers a way out of a loan that goes bad. Under a multistate settlement announced September 17, 2026, the company must offer 95% debt relief to qualifying borrowers with risky loans made starting in December 2025, through a program…
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Amazon Prime refund payments expire 60 days after they are issued, the FTC warns, as payouts continue through April 2027
Amazon Prime members who are due money back from a 2025 Federal Trade Commission settlement are running against a clock most of them do not know exists. The FTC says every refund payment in the case, whether it arrives as a mailed check, a PayPal transfer or a Venmo deposit, expires 60 days after it…