By Mark Miller; Reuters ~ Aug 06, 2015

(The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

CHICAGO – Retirees are facing a double whammy next year: no inflation adjustment in their Social Security benefits and a whopping 52 percent jump in certain Medicare premiums.

The Medicare premium hikes will hit only 30 percent of beneficiaries: those who are not protected from a “hold-harmless” provision in federal law that prohibits any premium hike that produces a net reduction in Social Security benefits. But the increases suggest strongly that the recent trend of moderate healthcare inflation is ending.

From Liza Kaufman Hogan, NA; Forbes ~ Aug 05, 2015

Most of us know that we need to have a financial plan as we age, but how many of us are putting together a transportation plan?

What happens when our parents can no longer drive a car or when we, ourselves, acquire a visual or physical disability that limits our mobility? What if we still can drive when we retire, but don’t want to? (I plan to be in that group.)

By Mary Beth Franklin; InvestmentNews ~ Aug 03, 2015

It looks like Social Security recipients will not see a cost-of-living adjustment in their benefits next year. And some high-income retirees may actually see a net reduction in benefits in 2016 as their Medicare premiums, which are deducted from monthly Social Security payments, continue to rise.

The Social Security Administration will make official announcement about the 2016 COLA — or lack thereof — in October. That should give you plenty of time to get ready for some unhappy clients come January when they ask you — their financial adviser — why their Social Security benefits went down.

By Mark Miller; Reuters ~ Jul 30, 2015

CHICAGO – Medicare turns 50 on Thursday, riding high in the polls but under attack from presidential candidates proposing benefit cuts or even phasing out the U.S. healthcare program for older people.

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the law, half of Americans age 65 or older had no health insurance. Today, just 2 percent go uncovered.

By Hazel Bradford; Pensions & Investments ~ Jul 30, 2015

Sponsors of overfunded defined benefit plans will be able to use excess pension funds for retiree health care and life insurance, under a highway bill passed by the House late Wednesday. The Senate is expected to take up the proposal this week, before the highway trust fund runs out of money on Aug. 1.

Internal Revenue Code Section 420(b) allows defined benefit pension plans whose assets are at least 125% of their funding target to transfer some assets, once per year, to a retiree medical account for the same group of participants.

By Bryan Borzykowski; Forbes ~ Jul 28, 2015

Imagine knowing years in advance whether or not you’ll get cancer and treating it now instead of when the disease appears. What if a doctor could call you hours before suffering a heart attack to tell you to get to the hospital? This may sound like something out of a science fiction novel today, but in the not-too-distant future doctors will be able to treat illnesses before they happen and more.

By Robert King; Washington Examiner ~ Jul 29, 2015

The average premium for a basic Medicare Part D prescription drug plan will remain stable next year at an estimated $32.50 per month, according to the federal government.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Wednesday that the flat projection comes as Part D plan costs grew by nearly 11 percent in 2014, driven by high prices for specialty drugs.

By Karl Bode; DSL Reports ~ Jul 28, 2015

Back in June the FCC fined AT&T $100 million for throttling the company’s “unlimited” wireless data users without making it clear it was occurring. According to the FCC, AT&T consumers were deceived by misleading marketing materials and insufficient disclosure when the company arbitrarily began throttling those users who exceeded 5 GB of usage — even when the network wasn’t facing any meaningful congestion. Regular readers know AT&T’s been waging a not-so-subtle war on these grandfathered users ever since it got rid of unlimited data plans.

By Andrew M. Seaman; Reuters ~ Jul 28, 2015

(Reuters Health) – The number of deaths, hospital stays and healthcare costs decreased among older Americans on Medicare over the past 15 years, according to a new study.

“Although our health care system has its failings, we are making remarkable progress,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the study’s lead author from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

“People are much better off today than they were 15 years ago,” he told Reuters Health in an email. “We will continue to identify our flaws and seek to improve, but people should feel good that all our efforts, collectively, are paying off.”

Monte Baggs, Vice President, TelCo Retirees Association, Inc., July 24th, 2015

There has been some confusion recently regarding this issue.  Below is a statement I received from my contact at AT&T.  Read it carefully and it will clear up most of your questions and concerns.

Retirees will not lose any concession they are currently receiving. The change is for those who have a Mobile/Cell phone with AT&T. Effective 8/1 they are moving exclusively to (online)  EBilling and will no longer be generating paper statements to send out. Retirees will need to sign up for EBill online to receive an electronic copy of their monthly statement. If they are already set up for monthly deductions through their bank account or with a credit card on file, their billing will continue to process as it currently does.

Our concern is with reaching those who rely upon the paper bill and may pay their monthly charges with a check, which is why the communication was sent out to all retirees who currently have Mobile/Cell service with AT&T.

The discounts team is preparing another communication piece to send out on or immediately after August 1^st for those who haven’t yet enrolled. Once I receive a copy of this, I’ll be sharing it with the retiree groups to host on your sites.

Note, this change is currently for Mobile services only. Retirees can still retain a paper bill for landline, UVerse or internet services.

Additionally, I asked if those who have combined billing (cell service combined on their land line account) would be impacted by these changes and the answer was “That is actually the ideal set up…”