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$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller. You probably won't see that increase, though, for two years… Continue reading
Dec 26 Watch 7:38 How a state’s choice on Medicaid expansion affects hospitals By PBS News Hour In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off. Sarah Varney of Kaiser… Continue watching
Dec 24 Can you go on and off Medicare? By Philip Moeller Is enrolling in Medicare a once-and-for-all decision? Not necessarily, explains Medicare Maven Phil Moeller. A retiree may want to drop Medicare Part B if he or she has the option of being covered under a new spouse's employer group health… Continue reading
Dec 17 Can you avoid falling into the Medicare donut hole? By Philip Moeller When you enter the "donut hole," prescriptions can become prohibitively expensive. But changing insurers won't help; the hole comes from Medicare, and although the Affordable Care Act will eventually do away with it, boomers are stuck with it until 2020. Continue reading
Dec 10 The Social Security and Medicare gotcha that makes contributing to your HSA illegal By Philip Moeller Philip Moeller considers a question from a reader who's old enough to collect maximum benefits from Social Security. When he files, though, he'll also get Medicare. And because he's still working, that'll spell trouble for his Health Savings Account. Continue reading
Dec 03 Should you ditch your employer’s insurance for Medicare? By Philip Moeller In the last few days before Medicare open enrollment ends for the year, Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller takes a question from a reader of a certain age who's not sure whether he should choose one of his employer's… Continue reading
Nov 26 If I’m turning 65 and still working, do I have to file for Medicare? By Philip Moeller People who have group health policies through their employers generally do not have to sign up for Medicare when they turn 65. But there are exceptions. Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller fills you in on the rules and takes… Continue reading
Nov 19 69 years ago, a president pitches his idea for national health care By Dr. Howard Markel Back in 1945 -- a mere seven months into a presidency he inherited from Franklin D. Roosevelt -- Truman proposed a “universal” national health insurance program. In his remarks to Congress, he declared, “Millions of our citizens do not now… Continue reading
Nov 19 Don’t be fooled by Medicare drug plans with low premiums By Philip Moeller When shopping for Medicare drug plans, many consumers are wowed by lower monthly premiums and don’t look at other plan details that will affect their total out-of-pocket expenses. Making Sen$e's Medicare Maven Phil Moeller tells readers what other costs to… Continue reading
Nov 12 The Medicare drug subsidy that millions of enrollees overlook By Philip Moeller More than 30 percent of all Medicare Part D participants received low-income subsidies last year to help them pay their prescription drug bills, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that as many as 2 million more Medicare… Continue reading