Ask Phil
Since the initial Get What’s Yours book was published in 2015, answering reader questions has become my major day job. At first, the questions were exclusively about Social Security. Topics broadened into aging and retirement after the “Ask Phil” column began appearing on the PBS website, “Making Sen$e.” When Get What’s Yours for Medicare was published in 2016, its complexity and confusion generated still more queries. And yet a new vein of questions was mined when Get What’s Yours for Health Care was published in early 2021.
You can review the links listed here to a Q&A archive of the most common “Ask Phil” topics, which I try to update as needed. If you’re looking for something else, use the adjacent search bar. It will trigger a scan of all Ask Phil content. The results page will include links to articles I wrote from 2008 to 2018 for U.S. New & World Report, Money magazine, and PBS. You’ll also see a link to my Get What’s Yours newslettter on Substack.
If you need additional information, I’m here to answer your questions. And if you encounter something you think is wrong, please let me know. Infallibility is not part of my job description! These are complex and ever-changing topics. Web links and program rules change. Your help is central to keeping “Ask Phil” accurate and up to date.
Thanks!
Phil
Medicare
Basics
2024 Part B Premium up 6% to $174.70
Accountable Care Organizations May Dominate Original Medicare
Making the transition from employer insurance to Medicare
Select Medicare coverage for the “future” you
Social Security’s role in Medicare
Medicare’s low-income support programs
Medicare does not require prepayment
Withholding payments for Medicare Part A and Part B
When it makes sense to decline Part A of Medicare
The benefits of Part A of Medicare
Non-working spouses and Part A of Medicare
Medicare costs for divorced spouses who never worked
Do you need a Part D drug plan?
COBRA limitations and Medicare
Medicare and out-of-state care
Understanding Medicare’s impact on health savings accounts
When it makes sense to decline Part A of Medicare
Concierge health practices and Medicare
Outside the U.S.
Medicare coverage outside the United States
Medicare decisions for ex-pats
Medicare enrollment for ex-pats still working
Enrollment
It’s Getting Easier to Open Medicare Enrollment Windows
Medicare Part D 2024 drug plan rules
Basics of Medicare annual open enrollment
Penalties, Surcharges
Medicare late enrollment penalties
Medicare’s high-income surcharges – called IRMAA, for short
Coverage
Dental Benefits Expanding in Original Medicare
Who oversees Medicare medical equipment benefits?
Medicare coverage of at-home care
Medicare rules involving kidney failure
Workplace Issues
Employee health insurance and Medicare choices at age 65
Medicare secondary coverage of high-deductible, employer health plans
Should disabled Americans drop Medicare for employer insurance?
Medicare Advantage
The difference between Medicare and Medicare Advantage
Changing Medicare Advantage plans when you move
Medigap Supplement Policies
Understanding different Medigap underwriting approaches
Federal Plans
Federal Health Employee Benefits (FEHB) versus Medicare
Medicare choices for vets with VA coverage who turn 65
The basics of TRICARE military insurance
Social Security
Phil’s Social Security Weblinks
2024 Social Security Benefits Rise 3.2%
The impact on retirement benefits of different Social Security claiming ages
Social Security spousal benefits
Rules for Social Security survivor benefits
Readers ask about Social Security survivor benefits
Social Security rules for ex-spousal benefits
Social Security ex-spousal survivor benefits
Supplemental Security Income and Social Security benefits
Children’s Social Security benefits
Social Security rules for family maximum benefits
Social Security disability benefits
Social Security income may affect Medicaid eligibility
Social Security WEP and GPO rules
Social Security’s “hold harmless” rule
Social Security benefits based on top 35 years of work earnings
Related Topics
What does successful aging look like to you?
Research about strategies for successful aging
Planning for frailty and future health needs
10 questions to ask before hiring an elder care attorney
Health care is moving into your home
