Detailing New Medicare Part B Premium Help
Changes signed into law by President Barack Obama will help shield some 17 million Americans from steep premium hikes. Elsewhere, longer wait times — and administrative appeals — make some with Social Security disability benefits wait.
USA Today:
Social Security, Medicare Changes Are Coming With New Budget Law
President Obama signed into law a bipartisan budget bill last week that, among other things, changes — for better and worse — Social Security and Medicare laws. Here's a wrap-up. (Powell, 11/28)
The Associated Press:
Long Wait Times Plague Social Security Disability Process
Overburdened administrative judges are working through huge caseloads of these appeals all over America, but Miami has the country's longest average wait for a hearing, at 22 months. And while they wait, many slip into poverty, burdening their families and dragging down the economy. Experts blame aging baby boomers for the backlog, which piled up after the Social Security Administration got $1 billion less in funding than it sought for more staff. (Kennedy, 11/28)