Miller's Insurance Solutions

09/02/2026

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09/01/2026

📋 Save this. Part A and Part B are not two halves of the same coverage. They cover different things, charge differently, and fail differently.

Part A covers inpatient care. Hospitals, skilled nursing, hospice, inpatient rehab. About 99% of enrollees pay $0 in premiums because they have 40 or more quarters of Medicare-covered work. Those who do not pay $311 or $565 per month depending on work history.

The Part A deductible is $1,736 per benefit period, not per year. A new benefit period begins 60 days after you leave inpatient care, so the same person can be charged that deductible twice in one calendar year.

Part A also tiers. Hospital days 1 to 60 cost nothing beyond the deductible. Days 61 to 90 cost $434 per day. Skilled nursing is covered in full for days 1 to 20, then costs $217 per day for days 21 to 100, and nothing after day 100.

Part B covers outpatient care. Doctor visits, lab work, imaging, outpatient surgery, preventive screenings, durable medical equipment, physical therapy. The standard premium is $202.90 per month with a $283 annual deductible.

Not everyone pays the standard premium. Some long-term enrollees pay less because of the hold harmless rule, Medicare Savings Programs cover it entirely for qualifying low-income beneficiaries, and IRMAA pushes it as high as $689.90 for incomes above $109,000 single or $218,000 married filing jointly.

The detail most people miss: after the Part B deductible, you pay 20% with no annual ceiling. Two clarifications matter here. That 20% applies to the Medicare-approved amount, not the amount a hospital bills, and the approved amount is usually far lower. But the exposure is open-ended across the year, which is what makes it dangerous. A single outpatient procedure rarely breaks anyone. Twelve months of chemotherapy, dialysis, or infusion therapy can.

That gap is the entire reason Medigap exists, and Plan G is the most common version of it.

Neither part covers prescriptions. That is Part D, which does have a cap: $2,100 in 2026.

If you delay Part B without qualifying coverage, the penalty is 10% added to your premium for each full 12 months you waited, and it is permanent. Coverage from a current employer with 20 or more employees protects you. Retiree coverage and COBRA do not.

One more for anyone still working at 65: enrolling in Part A ends your ability to contribute to an HSA.

09/01/2026

Hoping ALL enjoy the holiday weekend!!!

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08/28/2026

Remember to Schedule your Part D class soon! Roster will fill quickly!

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08/28/2026

Labor Day CLOSED
Friday 09/04/2026 Closing at
12 PM.

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08/21/2026

We will be closing at 12PM on 09/04/26 and closed 09/07/26 for the LABOR DAY weekend

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08/19/2026

🏥 Medicare and Medicaid sound alike, cost about $2 trillion a year between them, and do two different jobs.

Medicare cost $1.1 trillion in 2024, about 21% of everything the country spends on health care.

Medicaid cost $931.7 billion, about 18%, and that figure combines federal and state dollars because the two levels of government split the bill.

The simplest way to keep them straight is what each program asks: Medicare asks how old you are, Medicaid asks what you have.

Medicare covers 70.3 million people, starting at 65 or earlier with a qualifying disability or ESRD, and income never enters the decision.

Medicaid covers 73.9 million, at any age, based on income and assets, and because states run their own programs the rules change across a state line.

That is the surprise in the numbers: Medicaid covers more people than Medicare on less money, largely because so many of its enrollees are children.

They also part ways at the end of life. Medicare covers skilled care up to 100 days at $217 a day from day 21, and does not cover long-term custodial care, while Medicaid does.

Medicare is also not the free one. A standard enrollee pays about $2,718 a year in Part B premiums and the deductible before Medicare pays anything toward outpatient care.

Which of the two did you think was the bigger program before today?

P.S. Once a week, I email the best money article I read, with my take on this week's top Facebook posts and what's new on the Ways to Wealth blog. It's free, and you can sign up on the Ways to Wealth home page.

R.J. Weiss, CFP®



The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.

08/18/2026

⏳ A surviving spouse can claim a Social Security survivor benefit as early as age 60, and that early claim pays 71.5% of the worker's benefit instead of the full amount.

Age 60 is the number most people know, but it is not the only door.

A surviving spouse with a qualifying disability can claim as early as 50, and that rate is a flat 71.5% anywhere in the 50 to 59 range, with no further reduction for claiming at the bottom of it.

A surviving spouse of any age can claim while caring for the worker's eligible child who is under 16 or has a disability, and that benefit pays up to 75%.

Between 60 and your survivor full retirement age, the rate climbs every month you wait, passing 75% at 61, 80% at 63, and 90% at 65.

Your survivor full retirement age is set by your birth year and lands between 66 and 67, and that is where the benefit reaches its maximum of up to 100% of the worker's benefit.

The word "up to" is doing real work there, because the deceased worker's own claiming history carries through, so an early claim by the worker can hold the survivor amount below the unreduced figure and delayed credits the worker earned can raise it.

Here is the part that changes decisions: survivor benefits do not earn delayed retirement credits, so waiting past your survivor full retirement age adds nothing to the check.

If you stay under full retirement age for all of 2026, the earnings test can temporarily withhold benefits once earnings exceed $24,480, and a higher $65,160 limit applies in the year you reach full retirement age.

The strategy most people miss is that you are not locked in, since survivor benefits are exempt from deemed filing, so you can take the survivor benefit first and let your own retirement benefit grow until 70, or take yours first and switch later.

Which order wins depends on which record ends up larger and on when the household actually needs the income.

Did anyone explain the switching option to you when you applied, or did you find out later?

P.S. Once a week, I email the best money article I read, with my take on this week's top Facebook posts and what's new on the Ways to Wealth blog. It's free, and you can sign up on the Ways to Wealth home page.

R.J. Weiss, CFP®



*The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.*

08/18/2026

Watch your mail for Open Enrollment letter and Annual Notice of Change