According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, Medicare is facing huge deficits and its hospital trust fund may run out of money within eight years.

The article said:

One point that Richard Fisher made in our ed board meeting with him yesterday was that the country can’t afford to ignore its Medicare liability. About the same moment the Dallas Fed president was emphasizing the cost of such a large burden, the trustees for Medicare came …

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… unchanged. The first $106,800 of a worker’s earned income is currently subject to the tax. Also, Medicare Part B premiums for the vast majority of Social Security recipients will remain frozen at 2009 levels. However, premiums for the Medicare prescription drug program, known as Part D, will increase.”

The article gives us all another example of how sometimes the system designed to care for seniors actually does the opposite. Many seniors are already living on the edge. Today, more …

Tags: Cost of living Health care Medicare Social Security

… 31, leaving retirees with the option of paying the full cost of their own coverage to supplement Medicare…The changes do not affect American’s union employees, including pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. But American has made a similar proposal in contract talks with the airline’s three unions.”

American Airlines has been locked in an intense battle with three of its unions as it tries to free itself from health insurance obligations to union retirees to avoid bankruptcy.  …

Tags: Health Insurance Medicare Old age

… more vulnerable to medical debt and bankruptcy.   Even government plans such as Medicaid and Medicare and feeling the squeeze and President Obama is predicting bankruptcy of these programs if steps are not taken to decrease the costs.  But for individuals and families reliant on employers to provide low-cost medical insurance, bankruptcy is already becoming a very real possibility. Here’s why…

Many employers are attempting to decrease their medical insurance costs by …

… 11 bankruptcy because of debt created after the company participated in several Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service projects that were financially straining failures. The company wants companies who participated in the project to repay the fees they earned in excess of generated savings; but they felt it would be better to file bankruptcy as opposed to fighting for the fees with a lawsuit.

The article said:

“Rather than endure a costly and time-consuming legal path to …

… regarding the savings that a person will need upon retirement to pay for expenses not covered by Medicare and Medicaid.  The results are different for men and women, because of longevity issues.  A man retiring at the age of 65 in 2009 will need anywhere from $68,000 to $173,000 in their savings to cover additional medical expenses.  Because women live longer, they will need even higher savings at retirement.  A woman retiring at age 65 in 2009 will need somewhere between $98,000 and …

… Texas proposal also capped annual benefits at $25,000 for parents, a low bar that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would never support.”

Medical debt is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in Texas and nationwide. Many of those debtors filing bankruptcy have health insurance but still end up in bankruptcy because they are underinsured. It sounds like a health plan with only a $25,000 limit in benefits might actually lead to more bankruptcies especially amongst those …

… regarding the savings that a person will need upon retirement to pay for expenses not covered by Medicare and Medicaid. The results are different for men and women, because of longevity issues. A man retiring at the age of 65 in 2009 will need anywhere from $68,000 to $173,000 in their savings to cover additional medical expenses. Because women live longer, they will need even higher savings at retirement. A woman retiring at age 65 in 2009 will need somewhere between $98,000 and …

… regarding the savings that a person will need upon retirement to pay for expenses not covered by Medicare and Medicaid. The results are different for men and women, because of longevity issues. A man retiring at the age of 65 in 2009 will need anywhere from $68,000 to $173,000 in their savings to cover additional medical expenses. Because women live longer, they will need even higher savings at retirement. A woman retiring at age 65 in 2009 will need somewhere between $98,000 and …

… Street declines hit their pocketbooks. But fortunately many senior citizens won’t suffer under Medicare premiums this year because for those earning less than $170,000 annually the premium will remain at $96.40 a month at least through 2009.

Because many senior citizens are reeling from the housing crisis, devalued retirement accounts, increased costs of living and mounting debt, it is absolutely essential that seniors assess their financial situations. If you’re a senior teetering …