Category: Benefits & Retirement
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Aetna will sell Medicare Advantage drug plans in 41 states and Washington, D.C., for 2027, two fewer states than it offers this year
Aetna, the insurer owned by CVS Health, says it will sell Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage in 41 states and Washington, D.C., for 2027. That is two fewer states than the 43 states and the District it covers this year. People on an Aetna plan in a state that drops off the list…
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Social Security charges $74 to verify a number for a third party and $54 for each W-2 copy, on requests arriving since October 1
The Social Security Administration has reset the prices for records it hands out beyond its normal benefit work. Under a new notice, the agency charges $74 to manually verify a Social Security number for a third party and $54 for each W-2 or W-3 copy it provides. Both prices apply to requests that reach the…
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Food stamp purchase bans now cover 23 states on USDA’s table, 19 of them with a start date and four stopped by a federal judge
The list of states that want to stop food stamp dollars from buying soda, candy and similar items has grown to 23 on the Agriculture Department’s own table. Nineteen of those states have a target start date. Four have none, because a federal court threw out their approvals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP food…
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Social Security survivor benefits can start at 50 for disabled widows and widowers
Social Security survivor benefits can start as early as age 50 for a widow or widower who has a disability. Everyone else has to wait until 60. The earlier start comes with a time limit on when the disability began, which many people in their 50s do not know about until after the window has…
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SNAP households can get food destroyed in a household misfortune replaced, up to a month’s benefits, if they report it within 10 days
SNAP households whose groceries are destroyed in a household misfortune, such as a fire or a flood, can have that food replaced in benefits. The catch is a short clock: the loss has to be reported within 10 days. The federal rule, 7 CFR 274.6, says states replace the amount of the loss to the…
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Social Security survivor benefits stay with widows who remarry at 60 or older
A widow or widower who remarries at age 60 or older keeps Social Security survivor benefits. The Social Security Administration says a remarriage after 60 does not stop the payments, and the same holds from age 50 for a survivor with a disability. A remarriage before those ages usually ends the benefit, which makes the…
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Social Security credits back benefits withheld for working after retirees reach full retirement age
Social Security benefits held back because a retiree kept working are not lost. When the retiree reaches full retirement age, the agency recalculates the benefit and raises it to account for the months it withheld. The catch is that the credit comes as a higher monthly payment later, not as a check for the missing…
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Social Security lets retirees undo a claim once, within 12 months, by repaying benefits
Social Security gives retirees a one-time way out of a claim they regret. A person who applied for retirement benefits can cancel the application, but only within 12 months, only once, and only by paying back everything received. The Social Security Administration’s page on how to cancel a benefits application says an application can be…
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Social Security pays up to six months of back benefits after full retirement age
People who wait until after full retirement age to apply for Social Security can be paid up to six months of back benefits. The catch is that taking the back pay permanently lowers the monthly check from then on. For some households the trade is worth it, and for others the monthly reduction costs more…
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Social Security’s earnings test ignores pensions, annuities and investment income, counting only wages and self-employment earnings
When Social Security checks are trimmed for people who keep working, only one kind of income is measured. The agency’s retirement earnings test looks at wages and net self-employment earnings, and it leaves out pensions, annuities and investment income. A retiree under full retirement age can have a sizable pension and a brokerage account without…