Mary Johnson Cheap gasoline and home heating oil have made plenty of news since last October. The plunge in petroleum prices, the steepest in six years, has also dragged down inflation. In fact, consumer price index ( ...
Category: Issues
Benefit Bulletin: August 2015
Does Social Security Provide Enough Income For Today’s Retirees? More people than ever face a lower standard of living in retirement, according to a growing number of troubling new studies. There are several reasons w ...
Social Security & Medicare Questions: August 2015
Q: I’m helping my mother who is 70 with her doctor’s appointments. The doctor recommended a shingles, and a pneumonia vaccine. I know Medicare covers flu shots, but what about these? A: Medicare covers both, but like ...
Unprecedented Generic Drug Price Spikes Wreaking Havoc
Millicent Graves of Williamsburg, Virginia, recently was shocked to discover a huge price variance in different forms of the very same generic drug, one that she needs to treat psoriasis. When she filled her prescription ...
2015 Survey of Senior Costs Finds Big Drop In Inflation
May Signal Zero COLA for 2016 An unusually steep drop in inflation has slightly improved the buying power of Social Security benefits this year — by about 9%. But despite the temporary improvement, Social Security ben ...
SSA Can’t Estimate Financial Impact Of Illegal Work On Future Social Security Costs
By Mary Johnson, editor The fate of President Obama’s controversial executive action on immigration remains tied up in court. The potential long-term financial impact of the actions on Social Security and Medicare rem ...
Social Security & Medicare Questions: July 2015
After Surgery What Can I Do About Unexpected Bills? Q: I’m new to Medicare and recently had surgery. I’ve received several unexpected bills, including one for $1,100 from the anesthesiologist. I thought these costs w ...
An Obamacare Repeal Would Increase Beneficiaries’ Part D Costs
A total repeal of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known to most as “Obamacare,” forms a key component of budget plans recently passed by the U.S. House and Senate. But so far there’s been little discussion about the negati ...
Social Security’s “Most Gruesome Fraud Management Failures”
Mary Johnson Unreported deaths undoubtedly rank as the Social Security Administration’s number one “Most Gruesome Fraud Management Failures.” Hardly a month goes by without the discovery of a grizzly new case. Usually ...
Benefit Bulletin: June 2015
Good News Or Bad? More Medicare Beneficiaries Qualifying For Medicaid The number of Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid has been growing rapidly in recent years. The Centers for Medicare and Medi ...
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