Medicare Handbook, 2016 Edition

Medicare Handbook, 2016 Edition
Author: Judith A. Stein
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
Total Pages: 976
Release: 2015-12-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 145485619X

To provide effective service in helping clients understand how they are going to be affected by health care reform and how to obtain coverage, pursue an appeal, or plan for long-term care or retirement, you need the most current information from a source you can trust - Medicare Handbook. This is the indispensable resource for clarifying Medicare's confusing rules and regulations. Prepared by an outstanding team of experts from the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., it addresses issues you need to master to provide effective planning advice or advocacy services, including: Medicare eligibility rules and enrollment requirements; Medicare covered services, deductibles, and co-payments; coinsurance, premiums, penalties; coverage criteria for each of the programs; problem areas of concern for the advocate; grievance and appeals procedures. The 2016 Edition of Medicare Handbook offers expert guidance on: Health Care Reform Prescription Drug Coverage Enrollment and Eligibility Medigap Coverage Medicare Secondary Payer Issues Grievance and Appeals Home Health Care Managed Care Plans Hospice Care And more! In addition, Medicare Handbook will help resolve the kinds of questions that arise on a regular basis, such as: How do I appeal a denial of services? What steps do I need to take in order to receive Medicare covered home health care? What are the elements of Medicare's appeal process for the denial of coverage of an item, service, or procedure? Does my state have to help me enroll in Medicare so that I can get assistance through a Medicare Savings Program? When should I sign up for a Medigap plan? If I am on Medicare, do I have to buy health insurance in the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act? Is it true that I have to show medical improvement in order to get nursing and therapy services for my chronic condition? And more! The 2016 Medicare Handbook is the indispensable resource that provides: Extensive discussion and examples of how Medicare rules apply in the real world Case citations, checklists, worksheets, and other practice tools to help in obtaining coverage for clients, while minimizing research and drafting time Practice pointers and cautionary notes regarding coverage and eligibility questions where advocacy problems arise, and those areas in which coverage has been reduced or denied And more!

Get What's Yours for Medicare

Get What's Yours for Medicare
Author: Philip Moeller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1501124013

A coauthor of the New York Times bestselling guide to Social Security Get What’s Yours authors an essential companion to explain Medicare, the nation’s other major benefit for older Americans. Learn how to maximize your health coverage and save money. Social Security provides the bulk of most retirees’ income and Medicare guarantees them affordable health insurance. But few people know what Medicare covers and what it doesn’t, what it costs, and when to sign up. Nor do they understand which parts of Medicare are provided by the government and how these work with private insurance plans—Medicare Advantage, drug insurance, and Medicare supplement insurance. Do you understand Medicare’s parts A, B, C, D? Which Part D drug plan is right and how do you decide? Which is better, Medigap or Medicare Advantage? What do you do if Medicare denies payment for a procedure that your doctor says you need? How do you navigate the appeals process for denied claims? If you’re still working or have a retiree health plan, how do those benefits work with Medicare? Do you know about the annual enrollment period for Medicare, or about lifetime penalties for late enrollment, or any number of other key Medicare rules? Health costs are the biggest unknown expense for older Americans, who are turning sixty-five at the rate of 10,000 a day. Understanding and navigating Medicare is the best way to save health care dollars and use them wisely. In Get What’s Yours for Medicare, retirement expert Philip Moeller explains how to understand all these important choices and make the right decisions for your health and wealth now—and for the future.

Medicare For Dummies

Medicare For Dummies
Author: Patricia Barry
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2016-06-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119296595

Medicare For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293392) was previously published as Medicare For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119079422). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product. Make your way through the Medicare maze with help from For Dummies America's baby boomers are now turning 65 at the rate of about 10,000 a day. Yet very few have any idea about how Medicare works, when they should sign up, or how the program fits in with other health insurance they may have. Medicare For Dummies, 2nd Edition provides a detailed road map for navigating Medicare's often-baffling complexities and helps consumers avoid pitfalls that could otherwise cost them dearly. In plain language, the new edition explains: How to qualify for Medicare, according to your personal circumstances, including new information on the rights of people in same-sex marriages When to sign up at the time that’s right for you, to avoid lifelong late penalties How to weigh Medicare’s many options so you can be confident of making the decision that's best for you What Medicare covers and what you pay, with up-to-date details of the costs of premiums, deductibles, and copays—and how you may be able to reduce those expenses By conveying not only the basics but also how to troubleshoot problems and where to find assistance, Medicare For Dummies, 2nd Edition helps you to get the most out of Medicare.

Get What's Yours

Get What's Yours
Author: Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2015-02-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1476772290

Learn the secrets to maximizing your Social Security benefits and earn up to thousands of dollars more each year with expert advice that you can't get anywhere else. Want to know how to navigate the forbidding maze of Social Security and emerge with the highest possible benefits? You could try reading all 2,728 rules of the Social Security system (and the thousands of explanations of these rules), but Kotlikoff, Moeller, and Solman explain Social Security benefits in an easy to understand and user-friendly style. What you don't know can seriously hurt you: wrong decisions about which Social Security benefits to apply for cost some individual retirees tens of thousands of dollars in lost income every year. How many retirees or those nearing retirement know about such Social Security options as file and suspend (apply for benefits and then don't take them)? Or start stop start (start benefits, stop them, then re-start them)? Or-just as important-when and how to use these techniques? Get What's Yours covers the most frequent benefit scenarios faced by married retired couples, by divorced retirees, by widows and widowers, among others. It explains what to do if you're a retired parent of dependent children, disabled, or an eligible beneficiary who continues to work, and how to plan wisely before retirement. It addresses the tax consequences of your choices, as well as the financial implications for other investments. Many personal finance books briefly address Social Security, but none offers the thorough, authoritative, yet conversational analysis found here. You've paid all your working life for these benefits. Now, get what's yours.

The Power to Heal

The Power to Heal
Author: David Barton Smith
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2016-07-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0826521088

In less than four months, beginning with a staff of five, an obscure office buried deep within the federal bureaucracy transformed the nation's hospitals from our most racially and economically segregated institutions into our most integrated. These powerful private institutions, which had for a half century selectively served people on the basis of race and wealth, began equally caring for all on the basis of need. The book draws the reader into the struggles of the unsung heroes of the transformation, black medical leaders whose stubborn courage helped shape the larger civil rights movement. They demanded an end to federal subsidization of discrimination in the form of Medicare payments to hospitals that embraced the "separate but equal" creed that shaped American life during the Jim Crow era. Faced with this pressure, the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations tried to play a cautious chess game, but that game led to perhaps the biggest gamble in the history of domestic policy. Leaders secretly recruited volunteer federal employees to serve as inspectors, and an invisible army of hospital workers and civil rights activists to work as agents, making it impossible for hospitals to get Medicare dollars with mere paper compliance. These triumphs did not come without casualties, yet the story offers lessons and hope for realizing this transformational dream.

COBRA Handbook, 2016 Edition

COBRA Handbook, 2016 Edition
Author: I.M. Golub
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2015-10-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1454855819

COBRA Handbook is designed for benefits professionals, plan administrators, employers, service providers, fiduciaries, attorneys, and others who must deal with the complexities of the COBRA. This practical handbook simplifies the complexity of handling COBRA. It is designed for benefits professionals, plan administrators, employers, service providers, fiduciaries, attorneys, and others who must solve COBRA issues and stay in compliance. The handbook reviews in detail the rules contained in the IRS and DOL regulations and offers guidance on how to comply with the various rules contained in the regulations. The 2016 Edition reviews significant legal developments in the COBRA arena since the publication of the prior edition and discusses new judicial decisions issued during the past year. Highlights include updated and extensive discussions of the following issues: What types of employee benefit plans are subject to COBRA Under what circumstances a COBRA qualifying event occurs What constitutes termination due to "gross misconduct" for COBRA purposes How a plan administrator can ensure compliance with COBRA's notification requirements, and what type of documentation should be retained Under what circumstances a plan must notify an individual of the termination of his or her COBRA coverage And much more! COBRA Handbook also reviews in detail the rules contained in the IRS and DOL regulations and offers guidance on how to comply with the various rules contained in the regulations. In addition, COBRA Handbook includes the following features to help employers, other plan sponsors,administrators, and consultants in administrating and complying with this complicated and continuously developing area of the law: Examples illustrating important concepts Practice Pointers to help benefits professionals comply with COBRA Detailed case citations and notes to help the reader quickly locate relevant portions of the law, regulations, administrative releases, and supporting judicial decisions The full text of the DOL and IRS Final COBRA Regulations, model COBRA notices, and sample COBRA provisions for inclusion in a purchase agreement A glossary containing definitions of the key terms and abbreviations used in the book A table of cases at the end of the book providing full citations to relevant judicial decisions, as well as chapter and section references for each case discussed A table of COBRA cases grouped by issue A detailed subject index

Medicare and Medicaid at 50

Medicare and Medicaid at 50
Author: Alan B. Cohen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2015
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0190231548

For fifty years, Medicare and Medicaid have stood at the center of a contentious debate surrounding American government, citizenship, and health care entitlement. In Medicare and Medicaid at 50, leading scholars in politics, government, economics, health policy, and history offer a comprehensive assessment of the evolution of these programs and their impact on society -- from their origins in the Great Society era to the current battles over the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). These highly accessible essays examine Medicare and Medicaid from their origins as programs for the elderly and poor to their later role as a safety net for the middle class. Along the way, they have served as touchstones for heated debates about economics, social welfare, and the role of government. Medicare and Medicaid at 50 addresses key questions for understanding the past and future of health policy in America, including: · What were the origins for these initiatives, and how were they transformed over time? · What marks have Medicare and Medicaid left on society? · In what ways have these programs produced innovation, even in eras of retrenchment? · How did Medicaid, once regarded as a poor person's program, expand its benefits and coverage over the decades to become the platform for the ACA's future expansion? The volume's contributors go on to examine the powerful role of courts in these transformations, along with the shifting roles of Congress, public opinion, and state governors in the programs' ongoing evolution. From Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama on the left, and from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush on the right, American political leaders have tied their political fortunes to the fate of America's entitlement programs; Medicare and Medicaid at 50 helps explain why, and how those ongoing debates are likely to shape the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Medicare Handbook, 2017 Edition

Medicare Handbook, 2017 Edition
Author: Stein, Chiplin
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
Total Pages: 1008
Release: 2016-12-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1454871172

To provide effective service in helping clients understand how they are going to be affected by health care reform and how to obtain coverage, pursue an appeal, or plan for long-term care or retirement, you need the most current information from a source you can trust - Medicare Handbook. This is the indispensable resource for clarifying Medicare's confusing rules and regulations. Prepared by an outstanding team of experts from the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., it addresses issues you need to master to provide effective planning advice or advocacy services, including: Medicare eligibility rules and enrollment requirements; Medicare covered services, deductibles, and co-payments; coinsurance, premiums, penalties; coverage criteria for each of the programs; problem areas of concern for the advocate; grievance and appeals procedures. The 2017 Edition of Medicare Handbook offers expert guidance on: Health Care Reform Prescription Drug Coverage Enrollment and Eligibility Medigap Coverage Medicare Secondary Payer Issues Grievance and Appeals Home Health Care Managed Care Plans Hospice Care And more! In addition, Medicare Handbook will help resolve the kinds of questions that arise on a regular basis, such as: How do I appeal a denial of services? What steps do I need to take in order to receive Medicare covered home health care? What are the elements of Medicare's appeal process for the denial of coverage of an item, service, or procedure? Does my state have to help me enroll in Medicare so that I can get assistance through a Medicare Savings Program? When should I sign up for a Medigap plan? If I am on Medicare, do I have to buy health insurance in the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act? Is it true that I have to show medical improvement in order to get nursing and therapy services for my chronic condition? And more! The 2017 Medicare Handbook is the indispensable resource that provides: Extensive discussion and examples of how Medicare rules apply in the real world Case citations, checklists, worksheets, and other practice tools to help in obtaining coverage for clients, while minimizing research and drafting time Practice pointers and cautionary notes regarding coverage and eligibility questions where advocacy problems arise, and those areas in which coverage has been reduced or denied And more!