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Retirement Healthcare and Medicare

Retirement expert Bob Carlson’s research and knowledge on how to get the most out of healthcare options

Found 315 Articles.
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Medicare In-Home Services Expanded For some

November 12, 2018

In 2019, Medicare Advantage plans in about 20 states will be able to cover a range of home services that generally aren’t considered medical care and haven’t been covered in the past. It’s part of an experiment to see if providing these nontraditional services will improve health and medical outcomes for beneficiaries. The shift reflects […]

50 Facts About Long-Term Care

November 8, 2018

Apparently November is Long-Term Care Awareness Month. To mark it, the Association for Long-Term Care Planning has published a list of “50 Long-Term Care Statistics Everyone Should Know.” I know that many people are misinformed about aspects of long-term care. This should be informative to most people. Our goal is to raise awareness to help […]

Some Medicare Experiments

October 26, 2018

Medicare regularly tests different ways to provide and pay for care. It’s becoming more creative and inventive than in the past. This article describes a series of test programs underway around the country, including one that pays for basic life needs that aren’t directly related to health care. If they produce results, they could become […]

comparing-continuing-care-retirement-communities

Key Elements of Your Long Term Care Insurance Plan

October 16, 2018

In Part 1 of this article, I shared my thoughts on how to create a smart and effective long-term care plan, along with 3 key components that need to be considered in your long-term care plan. This week let’s continue the discussion with 4 more critical components of your long-term care plan. Long-term care insurance. […]

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Multiplying the Money Available for Long-Term Care

October 15, 2018

Traditional long-term care insurance might be dying, but there are other, and probably better, ways to protect your family and assets from the potentially onerous costs of long-term care. In 2017, only 66,000 traditional long-term care (LTC policies) were sold. That’s 10% of the number sold 20 years earlier. Steep premium increases on existing policies […]

Medicare Premiums Rise For 2019

October 15, 2018

Medicare announced the premiums and other costs for 2019. There’s a modest increase in the standard Part B premium to $135.50 per month from $134.00. As income increases, so do Part B premiums under the Medicare Surtax, or IRMAA, provision. This is where it can get very expensive for very high earners. For 2019, there […]

How to Build Your Long-Term Care Plan

October 11, 2018

The cost of long-term care is one of the major retirement financial worries. Survey after survey confirms that. The data also confirms that few people do anything about long-term care, other than worry. One survey even found that many people would rather go to the dentist than talk to someone about long-term care. That needn’t […]

Understanding Medicare

September 24, 2018

There shouldn’t be anything new here to readers of Retirement Watch and my books, but this article is a good review of the basics of Medicare and how to choose your coverage. Deciding on a type of plan is critical. Take the example of someone who wants more freedom to select health care providers because […]

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