Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Sunday, July 2, 2017
I didn't know # 2,6,& 9. You? 10 surprising facts about Medicare
From a Crain's Wealth Article July 1st, 2017
10
surprising facts about Medicare
More than 55 million Americans rely on
Medicare for their health care coverage. Every day, another 10,000 people turn
65, making them eligible for the government-provided health insurance program.
But the rules are complicated, and what you don’t know can hurt you.
1) Medicare
is mandatory
Surprised? It’s true. Once you turn 65 and are
collecting Social Security benefits, you must enroll in
Medicare Part A, which covers hospital costs. If you don’t want to enroll in
Medicare, then you must repay your Social Security benefits. Medicare A is free
for most people who have worked at least 10 years to earn the minimum 40
credits required for coverage or who are married to someone who is eligible for
Medicare. If you are not yet collecting Social Security, you can delay
enrolling in Medicare penalty-free under certain conditions.
2) No more HSA contributions
Once you enroll in Medicare, you can no longer
contribute to a health savings account (HSA), although you can continue to take
tax-free distributions from your HSA to pay for medical expenses. For some
older workers, it can be a tough choice between signing up for Medicare
coverage or continuing to make tax-deductible contributions to an HSA. You
can’t do both.
3) Procrastinators
pay dearly
Your initial enrollment period (IEP) to sign
up for Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient services and doctors’ fees,
begins three months before your 65th birthday, includes your birthday month and
extends three months beyond that. Miss that seven-month window and you will pay
a delayed enrollment penalty of 10% per year for each year you were eligible
but failed to enroll. Wait until 70 to enroll, for example, and that five-year
delay will cost you an extra 50% of the standard Part B premium every month you
are enrolled in Medicare. There is also a 1% per month delayed enrollment
penalty for Medicare prescription drug plans.
4) Work
longer and skip the penalties
Working longer is a valid reason to skip
enrolling in Medicare at 65. If you or your spouse are covered by a group
health insurance through a current employer or union, you can delay enrolling
in Medicare penalty-free. You have eight months after that insurance coverage
ends to sign up for Medicare during a special enrollment period (SEP). Retiree
health coverage does not count as creditable coverage but can be used as a
supplemental Medigap insurance plan to fill the gaps in Medicare coverage.
5) Medicare
has a lot of gaps
Medicare doesn't cover everything. If you need
certain services Medicare doesn't cover, you'll have to pay for them yourself
unless you have other insurance that covers them. Even if Medicare covers a
service or item, you generally have to pay your deductible, coinsurance and
copayments. That’s where Medigap coverage comes in. Some of the items and
services that Medicare doesn't cover include services typically used by older
people such as long-term care, most dental care, eye exams and eyeglasses,
dentures, hearing aids and routine foot care.
6) Living abroad is no excuse
Medicare coverage is only valid in the United
States. That means older Americans living and working overseas face a tough
decision: to enroll in Medicare and pay Part B premiums that they can’t use
outside the U.S. or wait until they return stateside and pay substantial
penalties for delayed enrollment. Coverage through a foreign health system does
not count as creditable coverage to avoid Medicare’s late-enrollment penalties.
7) Dawdlers may have to wait a long time to
enroll
In addition to paying a late-enrollment
penalty for life, those who miss their initial enrollment period may have to
wait a year or more to enroll in Medicare. They can sign up only during the
general enrollment period, which runs from January through March each year for
Medicare coverage that begins the following July 1. So, an ex-pat who returns
to the States in June 2017 would have to wait until January 2018 to enroll in
Medicare for coverage to begin on July 1, 2018. In the meantime, he would be
responsible for all of his medical expenses.
8) Income
determines Medicare premiums
Although most people who enroll in Medicare
Part B in 2017 pay the standard monthly premium of $134 per month, high-income
retirees pay more. Individuals with modified adjusted gross incomes (MAGI) of
$85,000 or more and married couples with MAGI topping $170,000, pay monthly
premiums, including surcharges, ranging from $187.50 to $428.60 per month per
person. Premiums are based on the latest available tax return, so 2017 Medicare
premiums reflect income reported on 2015 federal income taxes.
9) Income brackets change next year
Starting in 2018, Medicare premiums will
undergo some major changes. The top three income tiers that determine Medicare
premiums will be compressed so that higher premiums are triggered at lower
income levels than are in effect today. Those premiums, which will be announced
this fall, will be based on 2016 income tax returns.
10) High-income
premiums can be appealed
If your income has declined since the last
available tax return due to a life-changing event such as retirement, divorce
or death of a spouse, you can appeal the high-income surcharge. Follow the
instructions on the letter you receive announcing your income-related monthly
adjustment amount. However, if your income spiked for other reasons, such as
large investment gains or the sale of a second home, you must pay the higher
premium in 2018. But don’t worry; Medicare premiums are reset each year and if
your income drops, so will your future premiums.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
UPDATED! WHAT EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY
FOR WOMEN OF ANY AGE & WOMEN YOU KNOW IN YOUR LIFE, MAKE SURE TO READ & PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG
From today's CRAIN'S WEALTH 06/25/2016 http://www.crainswealth.com/gallery/20170609/FREE/609009999/PH/what-every-woman-should-know-about-social-security&Params=Itemnr=11
You earned it
Marriage Benefit
Disappearing opportunity
Same-sex marriage
Collect on your ex
Caregiving spouse
Survivors have choices
Public employees offset
Earnings test
New suspension rules
From today's CRAIN'S WEALTH 06/25/2016 http://www.crainswealth.com/gallery/20170609/FREE/609009999/PH/what-every-woman-should-know-about-social-security&Params=Itemnr=11
ALSO RECOMMEND: SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION BOOKLET UPDATE JUNE, 2017
What every woman should know about Social Security
Women tend to live longer than men, meaning
they spend more time in retirement and often do so with less savings, given
their lower average lifetime earnings. They are also more likely to live alone
in old age due to widowhood or divorce. Consequently, women represent more than
half of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and two-thirds of
all beneficiaries over the age of 85.
Here are the top 10 things women need to know about Social Security benefits.
Here are the top 10 things women need to know about Social Security benefits.
You earned it
If you work for at least 10 years and earn a minimum of 40 work
credits, you are entitled to a Social Security retirement benefit as early as
age 62 or disability benefits even sooner if you can’t work because of severe
illness or injury. Retirement benefits are based on your highest 35 years of
earnings. If you work less than that, the zero earnings years in the
35-year-calculation will reduce your retirement benefit.
Marriage Benefit
If you are married, you may be entitled to Social Security
retirement benefits, both on your own work record and as a spouse. A spousal
benefit is worth between one-third and one-half of the husband’s benefit,
depending on your age at time of claim. In most cases, you would be paid the
higher of the two benefits, not both.
Disappearing opportunity
If you were born on or before Jan. 1, 1954, you are eligible to
claim only spousal benefits on your husband’s earnings record when you turn 66,
allowing your own retirement benefits to continue to grow by 8% per year up to
age 70. Younger workers will never have this choice. Whenever they file for
Social Security, they will be “deemed” to file for all available benefits and
would be paid the higher of the two amounts.
Same-sex marriage
Lesbian couples are entitled to the same Social Security
benefits as heterosexual couples. Couples must be married at least one year to
claim benefits as a spouse. If entitled to benefits on your own earnings record
and as a spouse, you would be paid the higher of the two amounts. But if you
were born on or before Jan. 1, 1954, you have the option to claim only spousal
benefits at 66 and switch to your own larger retirement benefits at 70.
Collect on your ex
If you were married at least 10 years, are divorced and
currently single, you may be able to collect Social Security benefits on your
ex’s earnings record. And if you have been divorced at least two years and both
former spouses are at least 62 years old, you can collect benefits as an
“independently entitled spouse” even if your ex has not yet claimed benefits.
But to collect only spousal benefits while your own benefits keep growing up
until age 70, you must have been born on or before Jan. 1, 1954.
Caregiving spouse
If your husband is collecting either Social Security retirement
or disability benefits and you are caring for his minor child under age 16 or a
permanently disabled adult child, you may be eligible for a spousal benefit
regardless of your age. Once the youngest child turns 16, you will lose your
benefits until you qualify for retirement benefits as early as age 62.
Survivors have choices
If you are entitled to a Social Security retirement benefit on
your own earnings record and you are a surviving spouse, you can choose whether
to collect your retirement or survivor benefit first and switch to the other
benefit later if it would result in a larger amount. Reduced survivor benefits
are available as early as age 60. Full benefits — worth 100% of what your late
husband was collecting or entitled to collect at time of death — are available
at your full retirement age (FRA) but they do not grow larger if you wait
beyond FRA to collect them. However, retirement benefits increase by 8% per
year for every year you postpone collecting them beyond FRA.
Public employees offset
Public employees, including teachers, in about a dozen states
are not covered by Social Security. If you have a public pension based on work
where you did not pay FICA taxes and your try to collect Social Security
benefits as a spouse or survivor, those benefits could be reduced or wiped out
by the Government Pension Offset provision. The rule reduces any potential
Social Security benefits by two-thirds of the amount of the public pension.
Earnings test
Anyone who collects any type of Social Security benefits — as a
worker, spouse or widow — before full retirement age while continuing to work
could lose some or all of their benefits to the earnings test. They would
forfeit $1 in benefits for every $2 earned over $16,920 in 2017. Any benefits
lost to the earnings cap would be reinstated at full retirement age in the form
of higher monthly benefits.
New suspension rules
If you are collecting benefits on your husband’s earnings record
and he decides to suspend his benefits at full retirement age to earn delayed
retirement credits, beware that your spousal benefits would stop, too. Under
new rules that took effect last year, anyone can still suspend benefits at full
retirement age, but no one can collect benefits on that worker’s record during
the suspension.
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