Health Reform State Indicator Medicaid And Health Insurance Marketplace CoordinationCall your drug plan to ask about the coverage of the new generic and the expected co-pay. Be forewarned: according to Consumer Reports magazine, some Medicare drug plans charge lower co-payments for the branded version than for its generic counterpart. That has to do with agreements between insurers and pharmaceutical companies that make it seem like the name brand is the better deal..The goal is to prevent fraud and combat identity theft by removing the Social Security numbers from cards and using a unique, randomly assigned number instead. The new cards, which contain a combination of numbers and uppercase letters, will be automatically mailed to all Medicare beneficiaries. There is nothing people need to do to obtain the cards..Most Americans are under-informed about their Social Security retirement choices, and they don't mind saying so. The fact is the Social Security Administration isn't structured to provide understandable personal guidance or one-on-one counseling. It's almost totally automated and dependent on applicants having access to a computer and a good internet connection. … Continued
Abbott Northwestern And The 16000 Paper CranesFirst, one new cosponsor Representative Steve Cohen signed on to the Creating Access to Rehabilitation for Every Senior Act, bringing the total up to five. If adopted, this bipartisan bill would improve access to affordable long-term care by eliminating the three-day prior hospitalization requirement that currently limits Medicare's coverage of patient stays in skilled nursing facilities..I'm turning 65 later this year and my dentist tells me that I will need dentures. Does Medicare cover dental services?.The suppressed growth in Social Security benefits not only creates ongoing benefit adequacy issues for retirees, but also Medicare budget problems when the COLA is not sufficient to cover rising Part B premiums for large numbers of beneficiaries. When the dollar amount of the annual Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the dollar amount of an individual's annual cost of living adjustment, the Social Security benefits of about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by the hold-harmless provision in the Social Security Act. The Medicare Part B premium of those individuals is reduced to prevent their net Social Security benefits from being lower than the year before. … Continued