Seniors will see a modest increase in their Medicare prescription premiums next year but benefits will also improve, federal health officials said Wednesday. The average monthly premium charged by Medicare drug plans for standard coverage will rise to an estimated $30 in 2011, an increase of $1 over ...

A check from Uncle Sam gets your attention, even if the money doesn't help that much with the bills. More than 750,000 Medicare recipients with high prescription costs each got a $250 government check this summer, and 3 million-plus more checks are going ...

A check from Uncle Sam gets your attention, even if the money doesn't help that much with the bills. More than 750,000 Medicare recipients with high prescription costs each got a $250 government check this summer, and 3 million-plus more checks are going ...

It would be difficult to overstate the positive effect that Social Security and Medicare have had on the lives of Americans since the two massive federal programs were enacted in 1935 and 1965, respectively. Without these programs, the United States would be without a safety net for tens ...

They don't seem that interested in hot pursuit. It took private sleuths hired by Medicare an average of six months last year to refer fraud cases to law enforcement. According to congressional investigators, the exact average was 178 days. By that time, many cases go cold, making it difficult to catch perpetrators, much less recover money for taxpayers. A ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama reached out on Saturday to retired Americans, an important group of voters, touting a report that showed healthcare reform had brightened prospects for the Medicare hospital trust fund. Medicare is the government-administered program that funds healthcare for people aged 65 or older. A government report released on Thursday showed the program's trust fund was ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for the U.S. Medicare retiree health program brightened significantly from last year as a result of cost cuts resulting from healthcare reform legislation, a government report said on Thursday. The Medicare hospital trust fund is not projected to exhaust its funds until 2029, 12 years later than forecast last year, according to an annual report. However ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Social Security payments will exceed receipts this year for the first time in 27 years partly because of the impact of the recession but the long-range health of the program was little changed from last year, a government report said on Thursday. Social Security is set to run a $41 billion deficit excluding interest income due ...

Medicare and Social Security — the foundation of a secure retirement — are facing strains from an aging population and an economy that can't seem to get out of low gear. And despite assertions to the contrary by the Obama administration, the new health care law doesn't improve ...

The new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away, and over time add 12 years of solvency to the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care, the Obama administration says in a report to be released Monday. Medicare will save about $8 billion ...