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Dear Toni,

I have been told that Medicare does not cover drugs when you are in an emergency room. My mother went in the hospital from the ER for 2 days and because it was considered “under observation,” we are now fighting the hospital because they say her drugs were not covered during her stay. She has a Part D plan, but the hospital ...Read more

Before I begin today's column, which questions some of President Donald Trump's planned staff reductions at the Social Security Administration, let me confess that at the end of the column, I point out that I might be dead wrong! So, let's begin.

Imagine that you owned a successful business that was gaining 10,000 new customers each day, with ...Read more

I am turning 65 and retiring from my current employer and will no longer have health insurance benefits, life insurance, and dental and vision benefits. My husband will still be employed with benefits from his current employer.

I have been told that if I do not have a Power of Attorney or other legal documents in effect for both of us, we ...Read more

I often feel guilty if I write a column that essentially repeats information I've given in past columns. But readers often remind me that I shouldn't worry about that. For example, today I got an email that said something like this: "I know you've covered this topic before. But I've forgotten most of what you said, and now we are at the point ...Read more

Note: Because Toni recently received more reader queries about creating a My Social Security account after the account is blocked, we are rerunning the following column from April of 2024.

Hi Toni:

I’m turning 65 in July and not receiving my Social Security check. Last week I tried to open a “My Social Security” account to enroll in...Read more

Many readers have been emailing me asking for my help in understanding the allegations made by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency about sloppy recordkeeping at the Social Security Administration. Here are three typical questions.

Q: What is going on with the DOGE reports about Social Security recipients who are supposedly 120...Read more

I retired from my employer of 20 years last June when I turned 66. I enrolled in COBRA, which began July 1, instead of enrolling in Medicare because I was told that COBRA protected me from the Medicare penalty for 18 months.

My sister informed me about Medicare’s Special Enrollment Period in the Medicare & You Handbook which explained ...Read more

DALLAS — It could be as simple as constantly misplacing keys, or forgetting to pay a bill, or repeating questions over and over.

As people age, their memory and cognition tends to take a small hit. But about one in 10 older Americans experience dementia, characterized by cognitive and memory issues that are connected to a disease process, as ...Read more

First, an apology: I don't think there will be anything about Social Security in today's column. But after 28 years of writing these weekly articles (that would be more than 1,450 columns about Social Security), I hope you'll indulge me around this Valentine's Day as I spend one column sharing a couple funny stories from the early days of my 50-...Read more

Toni:

I am turning 65 on April 4, working part-time, and not eligible for my employer benefits, so I need Medicare. A friend gave me confusing information about enrolling, saying that the 7-month window is only for enrolling in Medicare Part A, and I have to prove that I qualify for Medicare Part B at the same time. If that is true, then how ...Read more

Poor Lyndon Baines Johnson. When it comes to Social Security, he gets blamed for something he never did. Our 36th president is often accused of being the first chief executive to tamper with Social Security financing. Well, he did tamper with it. But not in the way conventional wisdom would have you believe.

I was reminded of this when I got ...Read more

I am retiring in June when I turn 70 and my wife, Bonnie, will be 68. Our Medicare issue is that recently we applied for a long-term care plan and were both denied due to our simple health issues.

I had my prostate removed due to cancer about 5 years ago with no current issues and Bonnie has A-Fib which is under control. The agent who helped...Read more