By Elise Viebeck; The Hill ~ Oct 06, 2014

The Obama administration is seeking to improve a government system that offers quality ratings for nursing homes around the country.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday announced an initiative to enhance Nursing Home Compare, a consumer tool that evaluates long-term-care providers, in part by increasing the number and types of quality measures used.

“We are focused on using as many tools as are available to promote quality improvement and better outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries,” said Marilyn Tavenner, CMS administrator, in a statement.

By Sarah Reedy; Light Reading ~ Oct 06, 2014

In another reminder that threats can come from the inside, AT&T is now telling its customers that it suffered a data breach in August in which an insider illegally accessed its customers’ personal information.

The carrier confirmed to Light Reading that the data breach did happen, affecting a limited number of customers that it has contacted by mail. A now-fired employee illegally tapped into consumers’ personal data, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), which is data related to the services a customer purchases from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

By Pamela Yip, MCT; Lansing State Journal ~ Oct 04, 2014

It’s almost time for open enrollment season to begin, as employers unveil next year’s health care options to workers.

For most of us, there won’t be major changes. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our homework before choosing a plan.

“In general, most employers are not making broad changes to their plans for this year coming up,” said Craig Rosenberg, practice leader of Health and Welfare Benefits Administration at consulting firm Aon Hewitt.

By Rodney Brooks, USA Today; Oshkosh Northwestern ~ Oct 04, 2014

Health care costs are a big concern for people going into retirement, but the costs of long-term care can still be a shock.

Here are a few facts:

• 70 percent of people over 65 will need some form of long-term care at some point.

• For married couples, the chance that one spouse will need long-term care rises to 91 percent, says Byron Udell, CEO and founder of AccuQuote.com.

• People living alone are more likely to need some sort of home health care.

• Women outlive men, and thus, are more likely to live alone and need some sort of home health care.

So, while some financial planners previously were on the fence about long-term care insurance, they were still encouraging people to at least have a plan for long-term care.

By Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times – Oct 3, 2014

For millions of older Americans, it is time to sift through the mind-boggling array of Medicare plans.

There is an average of 29 drug plans to digest, and about 18 options for Medicare Advantage, the plans delivered through private insurers. Then there are the 10 supplemental plans that cover what traditional Medicare does not.

The choices can be paralyzing for anyone, and they can be even more challenging as you age. The Medicare open enrollment season, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, gives individuals a chance to rethink it all and reassess whether their plan still fits their needs.

By Melinda Beck; The Wall Street Journal ~ Oct 03, 2014

Medicare will cut payments to a record 2,610 hospitals—three-quarters of those eligible—because too many patients were readmitted within 30 days, according to an analysis of federal records by Kaiser Health News.

The hospitals, which include top academic medical centers and small regional ones, will see Medicare reimbursements reduced for every beneficiary they treat, from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 of next year. Some will be penalized as little as a hundredth of a percent, but 39 hospitals will be cut the maximum 3%. Nearly 500 will lose 1% or more of their Medicare payments. Combined, those penalties will save Medicare an estimated $428 million, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.

From Erik Carter; Forbes ~ Oct 03, 2014

When it comes to retirement planning, there’s a lot of focus on saving and investing for retirement, and rightfully so. After all, this is the piece of your retirement plan that you have the most control over. But another significant part of retirement planning is often neglected: Social Security.

That’s surprising because Social Security replaces about 40% of the average person’s income and is the largest source of retirement income for most people. However, the financial services industry has little incentive to educate Americans about this program. As a result, we’ve encountered a number of myths about Social Security that could adversely impact your retirement planning. Here are some of the biggest ones:

By McDermott Will & Emery; The National Law Review ~ Oct 02, 2014

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) stated in a filing published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2014, that it intends to require that plan sponsors report to the PBGC “certain undertakings” to cashout or annuitize benefits for specified groups of employees under defined benefit pension plans. PBGC intends to make this reporting part of the 2015 PBGC premium filing procedures.

Recently, many defined benefit pension plan sponsors have been implementing lump-sum distribution windows, primarily to former employees who are not receiving benefits, as part of a de-risking strategy. If participants elect to take lump-sum distributions in lieu of annuity payments, the plan sponsor can minimize the risk of interest rate fluctuations negatively affecting plan assets.

By Neale Godfrey; Forbes ~ Sep 30, 2014

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that compound interest is “the most powerful force in the universe.” I would add that education combined with the miracle of compounding may be the real power we are seeking. Who can have this super-power? Baby Boomers.

TV personalities, bloggers and almost everyone else yells at us because we apparently didn’t get the message about saving for our future. Ok, we hear you. We may have blown it for ourselves, but it is not too late for us to do something now to protect our most precious asset: Our Grandchildren.

By Michelle Andrews; Kaiser Health News ~ Sep 30, 2014

This KHN story can be republished for free. (details)

Medicare beneficiaries who want to make changes to their prescription drug plans or Medicare Advantage coverage can do so starting Oct. 15 during the Medicare’s program’s annual open enrollment period. There will be somewhat fewer plans to pick from this year, but in general people will have plenty of options, experts say.

And although premiums aren’t expected to rise markedly overall in 2015—and in some cases may actually decline—some individual plans have signaled significantly higher rates. Rather than rely on the sticker price of a plan alone, it’s critical that beneficiaries compare the available options in their area to make sure they’re in the plan that covers the drugs and doctors they need at the best price.