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Appealing Medicare IRMAA Charges at Retirement

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By now, you are likely familiar with the Medicare term, Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, better known as IRMAA. Those who are subject to them, often wonder whether or not they can appeal them. In general, many retirees are only subject to IRMAA for the first couple of years in retirement due to the two-year look-back period. For instance, let’s say that you and your spouse are retiring this year and… Read More

I Wrote My First Book

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This is an exciting time for me. After a few months of writing and editing, I published a book! It’s called: “Medicare Simplified: What Retirees Need to Know About Medicare in 100 Pages or Less” **Note on the image - the book is not that thick as it’s less than 100 pages and can be read in under 2 hours. My goal in writing this book was to curate the… Read More

Medicare Premiums & Deductibles Increasing in 2020

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In 2020, Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles will be increasing. Most enrollees will see their premiums increase by ~7%, from $135.50 to $144.60 per month. This is a $109.20 annual increase. The annual deductible for Part B coverage will also increase by ~7%, going from $185 in 2019 to $198 in 2020. These increases are roughly in line with the Medicare Trustees Report for 2019 that estimated that the… Read More

Medicare FAQs

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Last week, I wrote about the differences between Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans. In writing that, I realized there are many Medicare FAQs that I hear so often. When do you need to enroll? How do you enroll? What does it cover? What is not covered? What is it going to cost? Will IRA distributions affect your Medicare premiums?  And so on.  Instead of searching all over the web trying to find… Read More

Medigap or Medicare Advantage Plans

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As an advisor working with retirees, one of the most common questions I am asked is, “Should you choose Medigap or a Medicare Advantage Plan?” Before I get to that, I’ll lay out an example for why this choice exists in the first place and then we can get into the weeds of these two plan options. I’ll also provide pros and cons for each coverage type and who each… Read More

Medicare Part B Premium Estimates through 2028

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The Medicare Trustees Report for 2019 was just released and the following table shows Medicare Part B premium estimates through 2028. You can see in the table below (page 189 of the report) that the current Medicare Part B monthly premium for 2019 is $135.50 per person and they anticipate this to increase to $226.50 per person by 2028. This is an estimated increase of almost 6% per year. See… Read More

The Medicare Part B Penalty Continued…

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A couple of weeks back, my friend Justin Castelli and I presented to the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Financial Planning Association. While he was in town, we shot a video discussing the recent article I wrote about the Medicare Part B Penalty for Late Enrollment so I thought I’d share the video with you. If you have questions about anything we discuss in the video, feel free to reach out,… Read More

How to Avoid the Lifelong Medicare Penalty

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Most people seem to be aware that there is a penalty for late-enrollment into the Medicare program. Unfortunately though, most people are unaware of how significant the penalty is. It is actually one of the steepest penalties that the federal government imposes on retirees. Perhaps second only to the 50% penalty for failing to withdraw Required Minimum Distributions. Making matters worse, the Medicare penalty is not a one-time penalty. It… Read More