Main Street Dollars

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A federal watchdog says Social Security spent more money chasing down some overpayments than it recovered from them. The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General reviewed a sample of small overpayments and found the agency spent roughly $4.6 million on collection efforts that brought back only about $2.6 million, a gap of nearly…

The 15 drugs in Medicare’s next price round were used by 1.8 million people and cost $27 billion

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Medicare’s drug price negotiation program picked its next round of targets in January, and the numbers attached to that list are large by any measure: 15 medications that about 1.8 million people relied on between November 2024 and October 2025, at a combined cost of roughly $27 billion to Medicare Part B and Part D.…

A workplace health account no longer comes with the letter warning it is weaker than Medicare drug coverage

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Millions of workers and retirees get their prescription help through a health reimbursement arrangement, a flexible spending account or a health savings account instead of a standalone drug plan. For years, the employer or plan administrator behind that account had to send a yearly notice stating whether the coverage was as good as Medicare’s own…

Insurance agents may call Medicare members whenever they like next year

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Insurance agents selling Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are about to get a lot more room to work. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a rule this spring that strips out several of the waiting periods and buffers that used to slow down how licensed agents and brokers reach Medicare beneficiaries. For…

Medicare Advantage benefit cards must be locked to a single plan year starting in 2027

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Millions of Medicare Advantage members carry a prepaid debit card loaded with an allowance for groceries, over-the-counter items, dental work or utility bills, and plenty of them have learned to let a little money sit unused in case they need it later. A rule the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finished this year closes…

A member who ignores a Medicare Advantage cancellation letter lands in Original Medicare

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A Medicare Advantage plan does not have to fail for a member to lose it. Medicare can decline to renew a plan’s contract, terminate the contract outright, or reach a mutual agreement with the insurer to end it, and any of those three paths produces the same kind of letter in the mailbox. Members who…

Eight Medigap plan letters open up when a Medicare Advantage plan is cancelled, but only on the way back to Original Medicare

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Most people who open a Medicare Advantage cancellation letter start hunting for a replacement plan immediately. Buried in that same moment, though, is a second decision that can shape a retiree’s health costs for the rest of their life: whether to pick another Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare. Choosing Original Medicare…

A Medicare Advantage member can apply for Medigap 60 days before the old plan ends

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When a Medicare Advantage plan pulls out of a member’s county, leaves Medicare altogether, or stops covering the place where that member lives, the member does not have to wait for the coverage to actually end before shopping for a replacement. Federal rules let a person apply for a Medigap policy as early as 60…

Filers who gave the Internal Revenue Service no bank account averaged $5,624 back, about $1,926 more than everyone else

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in Refunds

A new federal audit of the 2026 tax filing season found an unusual split in refund sizes. Taxpayers who never gave the Internal Revenue Service a bank account for direct deposit, and instead waited on a mailed paper check, received refunds that averaged $5,624. The much larger group of filers who used direct deposit averaged…

The Postal Service raises package prices 6 percent on October 4, and one carrier moves a week sooner

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