Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Most retirees know Medicare covers hospital stays and doctor visits, but the program also includes a set of lesser-known benefits that can cut hundreds or even thousands of dollars from annual out-of-pocket costs. From free preventive screenings to drug-cost subsidies and ambulance transport rules, these provisions sit buried in federal guidelines and often go unclaimed….
The gap between what different retirees pay for Medicare Part B in 2026 is striking: $202.90 per month at the low end, $689.90 at the top. That $487 monthly spread is not a billing error or a choice between plan tiers. It is the direct result of a federal income-based surcharge system that treats higher…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services set the standard monthly Part B premium at $202.90 for 2026, a $17.90 increase over the current year. Because that premium is typically deducted straight from Social Security checks, the hike will eat into much of the $56-per-month raise that the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment was supposed to deliver….
The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits at the close of 2025 has put approximately 22 million Marketplace enrollees on a collision course, with sharply higher insurance costs. These subsidies, first created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and later extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, kept monthly…
Medicare Advantage enrollment growth slowed sharply in early 2026, breaking a years-long streak of rapid expansion that had drawn tens of millions of seniors into privately run plans. Federal enrollment data for February 2026 shows growth slowed year over year, with gains appearing to be driven more by Special Needs Plans than broad-based increases. The…
Federal prosecutors have charged two foreign nationals in Chicago for allegedly running a $10 million health care fraud scheme that used fake labs and medical equipment suppliers to bill Medicare for services never provided, laundering the stolen proceeds overseas. The case is one thread in a far larger federal enforcement wave that has now charged…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has launched a series of regulatory actions targeting Medicare Advantage plans, using payment audits and tighter compliance rules to recover what federal investigators say are billions of dollars in improper payments. The effort centers on diagnoses that generate higher government reimbursements but lack evidence of actual patient treatment….
The Congressional Budget Office now projects that Medicare’s Hospital Insurance trust fund, which finances Part A coverage for hospital stays, will run dry by 2033. That date represents a 12-year acceleration from the 2045 solvency horizon that appeared in projections just months earlier, before the passage of the reconciliation law known as the One Big…
Americans turning 65 face a decision that, if mishandled, can permanently inflate their healthcare costs: whether and when to enroll in Medicare Part B and Part D. Skipping enrollment without qualifying employer coverage triggers late-enrollment penalties that attach to monthly premiums for life. With 2026 premiums already set to rise, the financial damage from even…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a wave of changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D drug coverage that will hit retirees starting January 1, 2026, combining higher premiums with a redesigned prescription drug benefit and tighter rules on how insurers handle prior authorization. The standard Part B monthly premium will rise…