Jan 28 Can expats take their Medicare abroad? By Philip Moeller Medicare recipients can keep Part A and Part B while living outside the United States, as long as they continue to pay their monthly Part B premiums. Maintaining Medicare drug coverage abroad, however, is a lot trickier. Making Sen$e Medicare… Continue reading
Jan 22 Many of the hospitals awarded Medicare bonuses won't be able to collect By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News Medicare is giving bonuses to a majority of hospitals that it graded on quality, but many of those rewards will be wiped out by penalties the government has issued for other shortcomings, federal data show. Continue reading
Jan 21 Thanks, but no thanks, Medicare, for the love By Philip Moeller Why does it seem like health insurance providers are attuned to your physical and emotional health -- tracking your medications, urging you to get certain tests, even sending you holiday cards -- until something goes wrong and you really need… Continue reading
Jan 14 What older workers need to know about the hybrid health care world By Philip Moeller Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller helps readers navigate the different health care combinations now available to so many workers staying on the job past age 65. Continue reading
Jan 11 Medicare begins paying doctors to coordinate chronic care for seniors By Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press Starting this month, Medicare will pay primary care doctors a monthly fee to better coordinate care for the most vulnerable seniors - those with multiple chronic illnesses - even if they don't have a face-to-face exam. Continue reading
Jan 07 Getting your hands around slithery COBRA coverage By Philip Moeller Workers who lose their jobs may have the option of continuing their employer group health insurance for a limited time under what's known as COBRA. But how does that coverage interact with Medicare and the Affordable Care Act? Making Sen$e… Continue reading
Dec 31 How can selling your home raise your Medicare premiums? By Philip Moeller Even a one-time boost in income, from the sale of a home, for example, will raise your Medicare Part B and D premiums, explains Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller. You probably won't see that increase, though, for two years… Continue reading
Dec 26 Watch 7:38 How a state's choice on Medicaid expansion affects hospitals By PBS News Hour In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off. Sarah Varney of Kaiser… Continue watching
Dec 24 Can you go on and off Medicare? By Philip Moeller Is enrolling in Medicare a once-and-for-all decision? Not necessarily, explains Medicare Maven Phil Moeller. A retiree may want to drop Medicare Part B if he or she has the option of being covered under a new spouse's employer group health… Continue reading
Dec 17 Can you avoid falling into the Medicare donut hole? By Philip Moeller When you enter the "donut hole," prescriptions can become prohibitively expensive. But changing insurers won't help; the hole comes from Medicare, and although the Affordable Care Act will eventually do away with it, boomers are stuck with it until 2020. Continue reading