Category: Benefits & Retirement
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The new work rule for food stamps now reaches adults 55 to 64, and more than a million could lose their benefits
If you are somewhere between 55 and 64 and food stamps help you reach the end of the month, a rule that never used to apply to you now does. As of this spring, adults in that age range have to show they are working, training, or volunteering to keep their benefits beyond a few…
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Social Security’s full retirement age is now 67 for those born after 1959
The single date that most shapes how much your Social Security check is worth is your full retirement age, and for a large group of Americans that age has finished its long climb to 67. If you were born in 1960 or later, 67 is now the age at which you can collect your full…
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Medicare’s out-of-pocket drug cap rises to $2,400 in 2027
For older adults who take expensive medications, one of the most important numbers in Medicare is the yearly ceiling on what they can be forced to pay out of pocket for prescriptions. That cap is set to rise to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. It is worth understanding not as a scary…
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A Social Security overpayment of $2,000 or less is now easier to waive
Few letters land harder than one from Social Security saying it paid you too much and now wants the money back. For retirees living close to the edge of their monthly check, an overpayment notice can feel like a threat to the rent. The reassuring news is that the process for pushing back has become…
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Fairview hospitals are leaving UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage network in January, and about 11,000 patients must switch or pay out-of-network
For about 11,000 older Minnesotans, a routine Medicare Advantage plan is about to stop working the way it always has. Fairview Health Services, the Minneapolis-based system behind M Health Fairview hospitals and clinics, has told patients it will stop accepting UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans starting January 1, 2027. That leaves affected enrollees with a decision…
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A letter saying your hospital left your Medicare Advantage plan can open a 63-day Medigap window
A letter that reads like bad news might actually be a door opening. When a hospital system or a Medicare Advantage plan parts ways and you lose your coverage through no choice of your own, federal rules can hand you a limited-time right to buy a Medigap policy without answering a single health question. Missing…
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Claiming a survivor’s benefit too early cost widows an average of $21,200
Deciding when to claim a Social Security survivor’s benefit is one of the most consequential money choices a widow or widower makes, and it is often made in grief, with incomplete information, and under pressure to just get something coming in. A federal watchdog found that filing too early, without hearing all the options, cost…
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Medicare’s Part B premium is projected to reach $209.50 a month in 2027
A Social Security raise feels smaller once Medicare takes its cut, and next year that cut is projected to grow again. Federal projections point to the standard Medicare Part B premium climbing to $209.50 a month in 2027. It is not yet official, but for retirees trying to gauge how much of their cost-of-living increase…
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Next year’s Social Security raise is projected near 3.8%, roughly $77 more a month, with the final figure set in October
For tens of millions of retirees, one October announcement sets the size of every Social Security check for the following year. The latest forecast points to a raise in the neighborhood of 3.8 percent for 2027, which would add somewhere around $77 a month to a typical retirement benefit. It is a projection, not a…
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Only about 12% of nursing homes will earn Medicare’s new September mark
Families encountering Medicare’s new risk-based nursing-home survey marker need more than a large number. They need the exact group covered, the present legal status and the next useful step for Medicare’s new risk-based nursing-home survey marker. The current primary record provides that map for Medicare’s new risk-based nursing-home survey marker. Five-star status alone is not…
