Ray's Retire Right Report Retire Right — Retire Smart! Raymond T. Martin, Retirement Coach and Medicare Planning
May 2024 Happy Mother’s Day to mothers, mother figures and those who love them. Perhaps also celebrate, “Eat What You Want Day” on the 11th.
May is Creative Beginnings Month May 4th – 5th is Toad Suck Days And May 11th is Eat What You Want Day
Gold Rush to Gucci Denim, a type of serge fabric, dates to the 17th century. It was first created in the city of Nimes, France, hence its name, serge de Nimes (de Nimes = denim). The fabric was so durable, it was widely used for workman’s pants. In 1850, Levi Straus, a Bavarian immigrant, arrived in San Francisco with the intention of selling dry goods to Gold Rush miners. But he heard of a more pressing need, durable pants. He first worked with a tailer to make pants from canvas, however the men complained of skin irritation from the rough fabric. Then Levi substituted a softer but still durable twilled cotton cloth from France -- denim. And he introduced one innovation that made his pants superior to any other: copper rivets at the pocket junctures. The best work pants, patented on May 20, 1873, for miners, became blue jeans, high fashion in the 1960s and thereafter.
Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day. What does it celebrate? (See the Answer Area.)
Big Medicare Changes for 2024 Medicare’s more than 65 million enrollees will continue to feel the positive effects of 2022’s historic drug law curbing what older Americans pay for medications. At the same time, beneficiaries will face higher premiums and deductibles for their medical care. Medicare continues to shift as more than 50% are enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA, the private insurance alternative to original Medicare.) MA plans will have new requirements including added behavioral health coverage and a mandate to let consumers know midyear what extra benefits they are still entitled to use. Meena Seshamani, a surgeon, health economist and director of the Federal Center for Medicare, said, “And that’s coupled with changes that we’re making to the program to make sure that people are taken care of as real people.” The agency has a goal by 2030 of having all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in organizations that coordinate the quality and cost of all their care. “When people have a serious illness, it can be really daunting to navigate all of the doctors and the prescriptions and the lab tests and imaging,” To help providers better coordinate such care, beginning in 2024 Medicare will reimburse providers for helping patients navigate their health care, especially when facing a complicated illness. Seshamani also pointed out ways beneficiaries will be able to spend less on their health care to help offset higher premiums. “There are changes that are coming in 2024 that people will feel in their pocket with the changes in the drug law,” she says. These include expanded eligibility for the Extra Help program, which helps seniors with low incomes afford their prescription drugs. The new law in 2024 also places limits on how much enrollees with high medication costs will have to pay out of pocket.
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