Medicare News

Medicare and Employer-based Coverage
When you have both Medicare and employer-based coverage, Medicare will either pay primary or secondary for your medical costs. When Medicare is primary insurance, Medicare pays for your medical bills first. When Medicare is the secondary insurance, Medicare pays...

Unexpected Medicare Penalties and Income-Related Adjustments: Can You Appeal? How?
Medicare can be confusing and lead to unexpected costs. This is especially true if you’re not informed on the front end when you first become eligible for Medicare; or, if you delay enrollment, when you enroll that first time. The three most common surprise-cost...

Medicare Basics: 5 Things to Know About Medicare Part A
There are four basic parts of Medicare: A, B, C, and D. Each part helps pay for certain medical services. Here are 5 things to know about Part A: #1 Part A is one of two parts of what is considered “Original Medicare”. (Part B is the other). #2 Most people don’t...
2020 Medicare Part B Monthly Premium and Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts
On Friday Medicare announced the Part B rates that most Medicare enrollees will be responsible for paying in 2020. Effective January 1, 2020 the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $144.60. This represents an increase of $9.10 from the...
Are Groupons For Healthcare Good or Bad? Yes
Groupons have been in the medical news lately (for example "Groupons For Medical Treatment? Welcome To Today’s U.S. Health Care" and "Groupons for medical care are helping patients save money") with stories of deeply discounted rates for some medical tests in several...
bbg65Plus Certified To Facilitate National Medicare Educational Program
Medicare can be daunting and confusing and quite difficult to grasp. This is true in the case of existing Medicare beneficiaries as well as their care givers. And, it's especially true for those prospective new enrollees who are about to turn 65 and have to deal with...
For Medicare Peace of Mind Turn To BBG65Plus
We have some very exciting news to share with you. Earlier this year, with great encouragement from our clients, we launched bbg65Plus. Thinking about Medicare can be truly daunting. For years our clients have leaned on our knowledge, experience, and hallmark customer...
The Wide Variation In The Price Of Diagnostic Tests Is Unrelated To Outcomes Or Quality Of The Provider: So Why Do We Pay More?
A study of spending on 12.5 million diagnostics tests by UnitedHealthcare once again revealed substantial variation in the prices patients pay for common diagnostic tests. The seven groups of common diagnostic tests included echocardiograms, mammograms and...