Employment - Senior Corps Programs

One of the programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, is Senior Corps. Senior Corps actually consists of three programs: Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

Medicare - Limiting Charges and Assignment

Medicare limits the amount it will pay for some services, supplies, and medical equipment. This is called the Medicare limiting charge. Whether a limiting charge is available to help limit the cost of services or supplies, however, depends upon who is rendering the service, whether the provider has agreed to accept assignment, what type of item or service is at issue, and whether the physician and the patient executed a private contract. Assignment means that a provider has agreed that it will accept the Medicare-defined reasonable and customary fee for its services. A full discussion of assignment appears in a separate article.

Medicare - Supplemental Health Insurance - Changing Medigap Policies and Losing Medigap Coverage

Sometimes, elderly Americans who have Medigap insurance to supplement their Medicare coverage wish to switch to a different policy. Other times, they must select a new policy if they wish to continue coverage because their insurance company goes bankrupt or because they move out of the policy's service area, for instance. This article discusses the typical circumstance in which an insured wishes to change policies to obtain additional covered services or to find lower premiums.

Asset Management - Viatical and Senior Settlements

In a viatical or senior settlement, a person who owns a life insurance policy sells the policy for a lump sum payment, usually a percentage of the policy's face value, to a buyer. The buyer of the policy then becomes the beneficiary, pays the premiums, and receives the full amount of the insurance when the original owner dies. Viatical settlements can be risky for both the sellers and the buyers and should be evaluated carefully.

Social Security - Survivors' Benefits

The Social Security Administration pays Survivors' Benefits to certain family members of a worker who died after becoming eligible for the benefit. For each three-month period of employment, a worker gains one credit.