Category: Benefits & Retirement
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HonorHealth hospitals and doctors in the Phoenix area leave AZ Blue’s Best Life HMO Medicare Advantage network on January 1, 2027
HonorHealth, the nine-hospital health system in the Phoenix area, says that as of January 1, 2027 all of its employed physicians, specialists and facilities will be out of network for AZ Blue Best Life (HMO), a Medicare Advantage plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. AZ Blue had already removed HonorHealth primary care doctors…
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Medicare Part D enrollees in the Prescription Payment Plan are renewed automatically for 2027 unless they opt out or switch plans
People enrolled in Medicare’s Prescription Payment Plan do not have to sign up again to keep it in 2027. The plan renews their participation automatically each year, unless they opt out or move to a different drug plan. Medicare’s September 2026 fact sheet says each year the enrollee’s plan will automatically renew participation in the…
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Seniors whose Medicare Advantage plan ends December 31 can buy certain Medigap policies without health questions if they apply within 63 days of losing coverage
People whose Medicare Advantage plan ends on December 31 can buy certain Medigap supplement policies without answering a single health question. The protection does not last forever. It opens before the plan ends and closes a little over two months afterward. Medicare.gov says the right starts as early as 60 days before coverage ends and…
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Social Security does not pay for the month a beneficiary dies, so families must return the payment that arrives the following month
Social Security does not pay benefits for the month a person dies. Because payments arrive a month behind, the deposit that shows up the following month has to be sent back. When a retiree dies in July, for example, the August payment is not the family’s money to keep. The Social Security Administration spells this…
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Cleveland Clinic’s Ohio hospitals and doctors leave Anthem’s Medicare Advantage and employer-plan networks on January 1, 2027 if no new contract is reached
Cleveland Clinic’s Ohio hospitals and doctors will no longer be in network for certain Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield members starting January 1, 2027, if the two sides do not reach a new contract. The warning covers Anthem’s Medicare Advantage plans and its employer-sponsored plans. Nothing has changed yet. On its accepted-insurance page, Cleveland…
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Social Security’s watchdog projects 22,942 adults on childhood disability benefits were underpaid because their entitlement dates were wrong
Social Security’s own watchdog says the agency set the wrong start date for benefits on a large number of adults who get childhood disability benefits, and that many of them were paid too little because of it. An audit report dated September 25, 2026 estimates that 50,194 beneficiaries had an incorrect entitlement date. It projects…
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Food stamp households with someone 60 or older or disabled face only the net income test, and their medical costs above $35 a month count as a deduction
Food stamps, formally the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, follow a different set of income rules when someone in the household is 60 or older or disabled. Those households only have to pass the net income test, and medical costs above $35 a month come off the income the state counts. The U.S. Department…
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Original Medicare enrollees without direct deposit will be sent Treasury paper checks for the one-time $90 Part B rebate later this month, CMS says
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says Original Medicare enrollees who have no direct deposit on file will get their one-time $90 Part B rebate as a paper check from the U.S. Treasury later in October. Most of the 20.8 million people eligible were scheduled to get a Social Security direct deposit on or…
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SNAP purchase limits take effect November 1 in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia, where sugary drinks can no longer be bought with benefits
SNAP purchase limits are set to take effect on November 1, 2026 in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia. After that date, sugary drinks can no longer be bought with benefits in any of the four states, and some of them also close the door on candy and energy drinks. The federal Department of…
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Social Security raises a check by 8% for each full year a worker delays claiming past full retirement age, and the increases stop at age 70
Social Security adds 8% to a retirement check for each full year a worker waits past full retirement age to claim, and the increases stop at age 70. The raise applies to anyone born in 1943 or later, which covers nearly everyone now deciding when to claim. After 70, waiting adds nothing. The Social Security…