President Obama signed it into law shortly thereafter, saying it will improve the Medicare program "because it starts encouraging payments based on quality, not the number of tests that are provided or the number of procedures that are applied, but whether or not people actually start feeling better." The law took effect immediately, and upon the bill's signing, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it had already begun reimbursing physicians at the full payment rate..Dad passed away a few years ago at age 90, after going to the emergency room during a health emergency and then spending a few days in the hospital. He was released to a nursing home where he lived a few more months. When all this happened, we didn't have any professional counseling, and had no idea how complicated this situation would turn out to be. We didn't know what Medicare covered or that it would not cover his nursing home care. Nor did we know how to get Medicaid assistance. Now Mom has no income left but her Social Security, and dad's impossible nursing home bills that she will never be able to pay off. How can we find help with questions about nursing home care, and how the costs would be financed in case Mom needs it next?.I get my Medicare health plan under my wife's company insurance. My wife is not on Medicare yet, she also gets her health insurance through her former employer. We are both retired and live on a fixed income. When does she need to enroll in Medicare?.Drug and Health Plan Finders at : The only way to be sure you're getting unbiased information is to use the drug and health plan finders on the Medicare website, not from a dot com or even a dot org website, because most others receive income from ads, selling health plans or prescription drugs. Using the Drug and Health Plan Finders you can get an overview of the Part D and Medicare Advantage options in your area and estimated costs based on the prescriptions you take. Click on the Drug and Health Plan Finder link on the homepage and you will be taken to a page that will ask you a series of questions to get started. There's a Medicare Plan Finder online tutorial video to help show you what to do..May 2007.Find out if your drug plan offers mail order: If your drug plan offers mail order you can often significantly cut your costs by using it. Generally, mail order requires a 90- day prescription, but often your cost is the same as what you would pay for a 60-day supply from a retail pharmacy..In fact, the fastest growing cost for seniors Medicare Part B premiums is not accounted for at all in the CPI-W since young workers are not enrolled in the Medicare program. Since 2000, Medicare Part B premiums have increased by 195 percent and prescription drug spending has increased by 184 percent. However, COLAs have increased Social Security benefits by just 43 percent since 2000..Other Medicare costs climbed as well, the Part B deductible, and out-of-pocket costs charged by doctors and for other services. Barbara's prescription drug plan bumped her medication to a higher formulary tier and her blood pressure medication that used to have zero copay now costs .00 per month. And after recent years of so much extreme weather, homeowner's insurance is now one of her fastest - growing costs..If your ex-spouse has not applied for benefits, but qualifies for them, you may still file for divorced spouse benefits on their record if you have been divorced for at least two years.
