By Robert Pear; The New York Times ~ Mar 22, 2015

WASHINGTON — Lobbyists will descend on Congress this week as lawmakers near a bipartisan agreement to finance health care for the oldest and youngest Americans, by revamping the payment of doctors under Medicare and by extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The agreement, negotiated by Speaker John A. Boehner and the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, would repeal a Medicare formula that threatens to cut doctors’ fees each year. In its place, Congress would establish an “incentive payment system” to reward doctors who receive high performance scores from the government. Scores would be based on factors like the ability to keep patients healthy while controlling costs.

By Sahil Kapur; Talking Points Memo ~ Mar 20, 2015

WASHINGTON — A top adviser to President Barack Obama on Friday slammed a House Republican maneuver aimed at forcing a showdown on Social Security as early as next year, signaling that it won’t fly with the White House.

“The House provision was un-constructive and at odds with how this issue has been addressed time and time again in a bipartisan manner,” Brian Deese, senior advisor to the president, told reporters at a breakfast downtown hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “It is just not tenable to walk away from what has been a very clear bipartisan approach to addressing the [disability fund] issue.”

By IBD Staff; Investor’s Business Daily ~ Mar 20, 2015

Special Report: Retirement Planning 2015

How do Americans support themselves in retirement? Are pensions a thing of the past, and how much do personal savings and investments contribute to retirees’ monthly finances?

Adults age 65 and older usually rely on multiple income streams. According to U.S. Census Bureau data for 2013, 85% of them receive Social Security, and almost one out of four works. Among those who work, the median income from wages or self-employment is $26,680.

By Ann Carrns; The New York Times ~ Mar 19, 2015

The 15th isn’t the only significant tax deadline in April.

If you turned 70½ in 2014 and have an individual retirement account, you have until April 1 to make your first withdrawal — known as a “required minimum distribution” or “minimum required distribution,” in tax lingo. The rule also generally applies to other tax-deferred retirement accounts, like 401(k)s.

If you don’t take out the money by the deadline, you may face a hefty penalty: You will owe an excise tax equal to half the amount that you failed to withdraw. So if you were required to withdraw $4,000, but you withdrew nothing, you would owe a $2,000 penalty.

By Allison Schrager; Bloomberg ~ Mar 18, 2015

California’s struggling to pay for health care for retired state employees, with an estimated $72 billion in medical costs coming in the next 30 years. Governor Jerry Brown’s solution: Make workers start contributing money to pay for the health care they’ll need after retiring.

Three years ago Brown pushed through a pension system reform to increase the amount public workers must contribute to their pensions, but that effort left health costs for retirees untouched. And while pensions are certainly in trouble, retiree health care is potentially a much bigger deal. Health-care inflation rises faster than pension inflation, and unlike with pensions, employers are not required to prefund health benefits. (The U.S. Postal Service is a notable exception, and don’t think they don’t complain about it.)

By Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) & Scott Peters (D-CA) ; The Hill ~ Mar 18, 2015

It is no secret that Democrats and Republicans have not often agreed on health policy in recent years.

We are writing as a bipartisan team because there is a critical healthcare issue on which we — and a growing number of our colleagues — have found common ground.

That issue is Medicare Advantage, the part of Medicare that now serves more than 16 million seniors nationwide. More and more seniors every year are choosing to get their Medicare coverage through Medicare Advantage.

By Peter Sullivan; The Hill ~ Mar 17, 2015

Conservatives in the House are assailing a $210 billion legislative fix for Medicare, warning the deal Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is negotiating with Democrats could undermine the push for a balanced budget.

Some hard-liners in the GOP conference on Tuesday said they were infuriated to learn that Boehner had been talking for weeks with Democratic leaders about a plan to eliminate the automatic cuts to Medicare providers.

By Alan Fram & Andrew Taylor; The Associated Press ~ Mar 17, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan House leaders are working on a $213 billion plan to permanently change how doctors are paid for treating Medicare patients, a costly problem that’s vexed Congress for years, a document circulating among lawmakers showed Tuesday.

Many of the tentative plan’s details had already been disclosed by lobbyists, legislators and congressional aides. Some particulars were new, such as setting a 2020 starting point for higher out-of-pocket expenses for people buying new Medigap policies, which cover costs not insured by Medicare.

By Alina Selyukh & Diane Bartz; Reuters ~ Mar 17, 2015

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s proposed acquisition of satellite television company DirecTV is getting a smooth ride from U.S. regulators and industry rivals, who instead are directing their firepower at a merger deal between the nation’s two biggest cable operators.

U.S. Federal Communications Commission filings and interviews with several people familiar with the Justice Department show the $48.5 billion AT&T-DirecTV deal is getting far less attention than Comcast Corp’s agreement to buy Time Warner Cable Inc for $45 billion.

From Nancy Anderson; Forbes ~ Mar 16, 2015

Do you know where each of your dollars is going?

If you can only hazard a guess, you may want to start tracking your expenses. After all, how can you possibly estimate your expenses in retirement when you don’t know your expenses right now? If you aren’t managing your cash flow and spending today, it might be even more challenging to do so in retirement.