Benefits & Updates
Health & Insurance
Medicaid, Marketplace premium tax credits and Medicare costs, including the surcharges that depend on income.
Articles in this category (20)
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Health & InsuranceMedicare vs. Medicaid: What Is the Difference?
Medicare goes with age or disability, Medicaid with income and state rules. What each covers, who runs which, and why some people qualify for both.
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Health & InsuranceWhen to Sign Up for Medicare — and What a Late Penalty Costs
Medicare has a seven-month sign-up window, and missing it can add 10% to your Part B premium for life. When to enroll, when you can wait, and what a delay costs.
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Health & InsuranceMarketplace Subsidies: What Would a Health Plan Cost Me?
The premium tax credit pays the gap between a benchmark silver plan and the share of income you are expected to contribute. Who qualifies, and where the help stops.
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Health & InsuranceMedicare Savings Programs and Extra Help: Who Qualifies
Medicare Savings Programs can pay your Part B premium, and Extra Help cuts drug costs. The income and resource limits, and why many who qualify never apply.
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Health & InsuranceOriginal Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage
Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage? How networks, prior approval, out-of-pocket limits, Medigap and drug coverage differ, and when you can switch each year.
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Health & InsuranceMedicare Part D: How the Drug Cost Cap Works
How the Medicare Part D out-of-pocket cap works: the yearly cap and deductible, what counts toward the cap, and the monthly payment option.
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Health & InsuranceCHIP: Low-Cost Health Coverage for Children
CHIP gives low-cost coverage to uninsured children under 19. Who qualifies, how state income limits range from 170% to 400% of poverty, and how to apply any time.
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Health & InsuranceSpecial Enrollment Periods for Health Insurance
You can buy Marketplace health insurance outside open enrollment for 60 days after losing coverage, marrying, having a baby or moving. Which events qualify.
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Health & InsuranceWho Pays for Nursing Home Care?
Medicare pays up to 100 days of skilled nursing after a hospital stay, not long-term care. How Medicaid pays, the five-year look-back and spouse protections.
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Health & InsuranceMedicare IRMAA: Why Your Premium Is Higher and How to Appeal
Higher-income Medicare enrollees pay an IRMAA surcharge based on a tax return from two years ago. See the brackets and how a life-changing event can lower it.
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Health & InsuranceMedicare Before 65: Who Qualifies and When Coverage Starts
People on Social Security disability get Medicare after 24 months of benefits, sooner with ALS. See the timeline, how enrollment works and what covers the wait.
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Health & InsuranceMedicaid Estate Recovery: Can the State Take the House?
Medicaid can claim repayment from the estate of someone who got long-term care after 55. See what is covered, who is protected and how to ask for a hardship waiver.
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Health & InsuranceCOBRA, Marketplace or a Spouse's Plan: Choosing After You Lose Coverage
Lost job-based health insurance? You have 60 days to elect COBRA and 45 more to pay. Compare its cost, deadlines and length with a Marketplace or spouse's plan.
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Health & InsuranceDoes Medicare Cover Dental, Vision and Hearing?
Original Medicare leaves out routine dental, vision and hearing care, with narrow exceptions. See what it does cover, what Advantage plans add and cheaper options.
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Health & InsuranceDo I Qualify for Medicaid? Income Limits and Who Is Eligible
Medicaid eligibility turns on your income, your household, your state and the group you fit. The income limits, who qualifies at each and how to apply.
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Health & InsuranceHow Much Does Medicare Cost? Premiums, Deductibles and Coinsurance
What Medicare costs: the Part B premium nearly everyone pays, the Part A and Part B deductibles, hospital and nursing coinsurance, and the bills with no yearly cap.
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Health & InsuranceSurprise Medical Bills: What the No Surprises Act Protects
How the No Surprises Act limits out-of-network bills for emergency care, in-network hospital stays and air ambulances, and what to do if one arrives anyway.
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Health & InsuranceMedicare Open Enrollment: What You Can Change by December 7
Medicare's open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7. What you can switch, what to check in your plan's notice and the second chance after January 1.
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Health & InsuranceMedigap Plans Compared: G, N and the Others, and When You Can Buy One
How Medicare Supplement plans fill the gaps in Original Medicare, how Plans G, N, K and L differ, and why the six-month window after Part B starts matters most.
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Health & InsuranceMarketplace Open Enrollment: Dates, Deadlines and What to Check Before You Renew
HealthCare.gov open enrollment runs November 1 to January 15, with December 15 the deadline for January coverage. What to update, compare and avoid at renewal.