By Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) Health care costs are too high. Insurance premiums have gone up year after year, while drug prices skyrocket and surprise medical bills drain Americans’ bank accounts. As a doctor, I kno ...
Author Archives: georgette
Best Ways To Save: December 2018
Medicare Advantage Plans May Offer New Supplemental Benefits, But New Co-Pay “Tiers” May Raise Some Costs Enrollees in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans should take a careful look at changes in their health plan for 2 ...
Q & A: December 2018
Would it Be Advantageous for Me to Take a Divorced Spouse Benefit? Q: How does divorce affect my Social Security benefits? I’m turning 64. My ex - husband had much higher earnings than I did. His benefit is likely ...
Ask the Advisor: December 2018
Is Life Insurance After Starting Social Security Worth the Money? Q: Could you tell me the advantages and disadvantages of life insurance once we start Social Security? Doesn’t Social Security pay widow’s benefits? ...
How the Medicare Part B Premium Increase Will Affect Benefits in 2019
The Social Security Administration recently announced that the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will raise benefits by 2.8% for 2019. The average retirement benefit of $1,400 will increase by $39.20 per month, to ...
Medicare Part D Coverage Gap Closes In 2019
While little progress was made this year to lower overall drug costs, some changes made by the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018 are helping an estimated 5 million Medicare beneficiaries with the highest annual out-of- ...
Rx for Surprise Medical Bills?
By Mary Johnson, editor After 44-year old Drew Calver had a heart attack last year, his health plan paid nearly $56,000 for a four-day emergency stay in a hospital that was not in his insurance plan’s network. The ho ...
Benefit Bulletin: November 2018
When You Can’t Afford Your Prescription Drugs, Apply For “Extra Help” We’ve heard stories about cutting back on prescriptions over the years, but recently I heard one about a diabetic who was forced to cut back on the ...
Legislative Update: November 2018
Long Lines at Social Security Offices and What We Can do to Shorten Them By Jessie Gibbons, Legislative Director If you’ve been to a Social Security field office in the past few years, you’ve noticed longer wait ti ...
Congressional Corner: Congress Has an Obligation to Seniors
By Representative Debbie Lesko (AZ-8) Since 1935 and 1965, Social Security and Medicare have been, and continue to be, essential for senior citizens of the United States. More than 60 million Americans are currently e ...