Planning to retire at year-end and sign up for Medicare in January? Part A will be backdated to July — and every HSA dollar you put in this fall becomes an “excess contribution” with a 6% tax that repeats every year it sits there. Here’s the math, the fix, and what your HSA is still good for.
Fifteen brand-name drugs get negotiated prices on Jan. 1. Here’s where the discount actually shows up on your bill, where it doesn’t, and the three lines in this month’s plan letter that tell you which one you’re getting.
A pilot called WISeR has put prior authorization on a short list of procedures in six states. Most people won’t feel it. If you do, one form (the ABN) decides whether you or Medicare gets the bill.
A phishing wave is borrowing the one health login you actually trust, six weeks before Medicare Open Enrollment. Here’s how it works, what it’s really after, and the two-second habit that makes it harmless.
58% of Medicare Advantage members didn’t use their dental benefit last year. A 2024 rule was going to make plans mail you a list of unused benefits each July; CMS scrapped it before the first mailing. Most dental allowances expire December 31. One call, three questions, one appointment.
CMS set the 2027 Part D base premium at $41.33, up 6% — and that number prices the permanent late enrollment penalty. If you’re 65 and still on a work or retiree drug plan, the creditable-coverage letter due by Oct. 15 is what proves you don’t owe it.
Federal inspectors found Medicare Advantage plans reversed 95% of appealed nursing-home denials, yet only 18% were ever appealed. The 65-day window, the 72-hour fast track, and the noon deadline that decide the outcome.
The “$2,400 back in your Social Security check” ads start October 1. It’s a real benefit — but KFF’s numbers show the typical enrollee who has it gets less than $10 a month. Here’s the math, and the four lines to check before you call.
Since 2023, a Medicare agent who collected your appointment form at a seminar had to wait 48 hours before the sales pitch. Starting October 1, that pause is gone – same room, same afternoon. Here’s exactly what changed, the nine protections that didn’t, and one sentence that hands you back the clock.
Extra Help (the Part D Low-Income Subsidy) zeroes out your drug-plan premium and deductible and caps copays at a few dollars — about $5,900 a year in value. There’s no enrollment window, and the income limits are higher than most assume.