Opinion: When You Decide Your Retirement Is a Mistake

From Rodney Brooks; US News & World Report ~ May 25, 2018

After waiting years for their retirement, some people still make one of the biggest retirement mistakes of all: They retire before they are mentally or financially prepared.

Some retirees just get bored. Other seniors miss interactions with colleagues and clients.



Opinion: Senior advocates say new draft guide to Medicare distorts facts. Here’s what you need to know

From Philip Moeller; PBS News Hour ~ May 25, 2018

Medicare & You is the government’s seminal guide to all things Medicare, and is a primary resource used by consumers in each year’s annual enrollment season beginning Oct. 15. As such, it is or should be the gold standard of reliable information for more than 65 million people already enrolled in Medicare and the millions of people who newly enroll each year.



Why Is Retirement So Stressful?

From Robert Laura; Forbes ~ May 24, 2018

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but retirement doesn’t always turn out the way people think. Primarily because this stage of life can intersect with an avalanche of activity that causes a massive amount of stress, worry and anxiety. As a result, people can often suffer in silence as they try to figure out what’s going on.



Medicare Part B premiums devouring many retirees’ Social Security increase, survey shows

By Sarah O’Brien; CNBC ~ May 24, 2018

• A quarter of older Americans say that after their Medicare Part B premium is deducted from their Social Security check, they’re left with no more than they had last year.
• Another 18 percent say they’ve seen a boost of less than $5 a month.



Opinion: Injecting Common Sense Into Financial Markets

From Ike Brannon; Forbes ~ May 23, 2018

An elementary moral hazard problem plagues investment funds–namely that those of us who put our money in one of them simply do not have the ability to fully monitor what the investors do on our behalf, and they do occasionally possess priorities beyond maximizing our return. The debate over the fiduciary rule–which is still ongoing, of course–rested upon that perception.



Drugmakers Blamed For Blocking Generics Have Jacked Up Prices And Cost U.S. Billions

By Sydney Lupkin; Kaiser Health News ~ May 23, 2018

Makers of brand-name drugs called out by the Trump administration for potentially stalling generic competition have hiked their prices by double-digit percentages since 2012 and cost Medicare and Medicaid nearly $12 billion in 2016, a Kaiser Health News analysis has found.



How to Age Well and Stay in Your Home

By Jane E. Brody; The New York Times ~ May 21, 2018

Barbara Ehrenreich, popular author and self-described mythbuster, has written about how, having reached her mid-70s, she has lived long enough and now forgoes regular medical exams. And Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a 60-year-old oncologist and bioethicist, argues that we might all be better off, himself included, if he dies at 75.



Why Your 2019 Social Security Increase Could Be the Biggest in Years

By Dan Caplinger; The Motley Fool ~ May 19, 2018

The vast majority of American retirees get benefits from Social Security, and many of them depend on the program to provide them with the majority of their regular income in retirement. One of the best features of Social Security is that monthly payments are tied to the rate of inflation, so most of the time, recipients get benefit increases every January that match up with rising prices.



Has AT&T Inked a Deal With Google for TV?

By Mari Silbey; Light Reading ~ May 18, 2018

AT&T has confirmed that it will launch a premium over-the-top video service later this year, but it hasn’t answered one fundamental question about how it will bring that service to market: What role will Google play?



Azar Warns Pharma That Administration Will Be ‘Turning On The Pressure’ As He Defends President’s Drug Plan

From KHN Morning Briefing; Kaiser Health News ~ May 15, 2018

HHS Secretary Alex Azar blasted a long-standing Democratic idea for Medicare to negotiate drug prices, saying it would deny access to medicines “through rationing or setting prices,” which he called a “move toward socialized medicine.” However, Azar did promise to upend Medicare Part B’s payment structure.





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Healthcare reform act passed by congress. It explains just about everything one would want to know about the new law and outlines when certain provisions become effective.