Social Security, Medicare and Government Pensions : Get the Most Out of Your Retirement and Medical Benefits

by Matthews, Joseph L.

• ISBN13: 9781413309249
• ISBN10: 1413309240
• Edition: 14th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-09
• Publisher: Nolo

Summary

Get the most out of the new Medicare drug coverage! Everyone wants to get the highest possible retirement and pension income --not to mention the best medical coverage. This book is your guide to finding retirement benefits, figuring out the best time to claim them, and then doing so quickly and easily.

Author Biography

Joseph Matthews has been an attorney since 1971, and from 1975 to 1977 he taught at the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. He has for many years been involved in matters relating to seniors, and is also the author of Long Term Care and How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim. Dorothy Matthews Berman began working with seniors in various capacities in 1973 and served as Program Director at a senior citizen center in the Los Angeles area for many years

Table of Contents

Your Social security, Medicare & Government Pensions Companion	p. 1
Social security: The Basics	p. 9
History of Social Security	p. 11
Social Security defined	p. 15
Eligibility for Benefits	p. 18
Earning Work Credits	p. 24
Determining Your Benefit Amount	p. 26
Your Social Security Earnings Record	p. 29
Reading Your Social Security Statement	p. 32
Correcting your Record	p. 37
U.S. Citizens Rights to receive Benefits While living Abroad	p. 40
Receiving Benefits as a Noncitizen	p. 40
Social Security Retirement Benefits	p. 45
Work Credits Required	p. 47
Timing Your retirement	p. 50
The Amount of Your retirement Check	p. 56
Working After Claiming Early Retirement Benefits	p. 60
Social Security Disability Benefits	p. 65
Who is Eligible	p. 67
What is a Disability	p. 73
Amount of Disability Benefits Payments	p. 80
Collecting Additional Benefits	p. 83
Eligibility Review	p. 86
Returning to work	p. 88
Social security Dependents Benefits	p. 91
Who is Eligible	p. 92
Calculating Dependents Benefits	p. 95
Eligibility for More Than One Benefit	p. 97
Working While Receiving Benefits	p. 98
Government Pension Offset	p. 99
Social Security Survivors Benefits	p. 103
Work Credit required for Eligibility	p. 104
Who is Eligible	p. 105
Amount of Survivors Benefits	p. 108
Eligibility for More Than One benefit	p. 111
Working While Receiving Benefits	p. 113
Government pension Offset	p. 114
When to Claim social Security Benefits, and Which One to Claim	p. 117
Considerations for All Beneficiaries	p. 118
Considerations for Specific Situations	p. 123
Supplemental Security Income	p. 131
Who is eligible	p. 132
Benefit Amounts	p. 141
Reductions to Benefits	p. 143
Applying for Benefits	p. 147
Retirement, Dependents, and Survivors Benefits	p. 148
Disability Benefits	p. 157
Supplemental Security income (SSI)	p. 162
Finding Out What Happens to your claim	p. 165
Appealing a Social Security Decusuib	p. 169
Reconsideration of Decision	p. 171
Administrative Hearing	p. 180
Appeal to the National Appeals Council	p. 186
Lawsuit in Federal Court	p. 188
Lawyers and others Assistance	p. 189
Federal Civil Service Retirement Benefits	p. 197
Two Retirement Systems CSRS and FERS 199
Retirement Benefits	p. 200
Disability Benefits to Federal Workers	p. 215
Payments to Surviving Family Members	p. 219
Applying for CSRS or FERS Benefits	p. 222
Veterans Benefits	p. 223
Types of Military Service Required	p. 224
Compensation for Service Connected Disability	p. 225
Pension Benefits for Financial Needy Disabled Veterans	p. 229
Survivors Benefits	p. 231
Medical Treatment	p. 233
Getting Information and Applying for Benefits	p. 235
Medicare	p. 237
The Medicare Maze	p. 241
Medicare The Basics	p. 243
Part A Hospital Insurance	p. 248
How Much Medical Part A Pays	p. 262
Part B Medical Insurance	p. 270
How Much Medicare Part B Pays	p. 283
Part D Prescription Drug Coverage	p. 293
Medicare Procedures Enrollment, Claims, and Appeals	p. 325
Enrolling in Part A Hospital insurance	p. 327
Enrolling in Part B Medical Insurance	p. 331
MedicareÆs Payment of Your Medical Bills	p. 333
Paying Your Share of the Bill	p. 340
How to Read a Medicare Summary Notice	p. 340
Appealing the Denial of a Claim	p. 346
Medicare Part D Enrollment, Exceptions, and Appeals	p. 365
Switching Part D plans	p. 373
State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs)	p. 376
Medigap Insurance	p. 377
Gaps in Medicare	p. 379
Standard Medigap Benefit Plans	p. 381
Terms and Conditions of Medigap Policies	p. 394
Finding the Best Medicare Supplement	p. 402
Medicare Managed Care Plans	p. 409
The Structure of Managed Care	p. 413
Choosing a Medicare Managed Care Plan	p. 417
Comparing Medigap and Managed Care Plans	p. 428
Yours Rights When Joining, Leaving, or Losing, Managed Care Coverage	p. 431
Medicaid and State Supplements to Medicare	p. 433
Medicaid Defined	p. 435
Who is eligible	p. 436
Medical Costs Covered by Medicaid	p. 441
Requirements for Coverage	p. 444
Cost of Medicaid Coverage	p. 446
Other State Assistance	p. 447
Applying for Medicaid, QMB, SLMB, or QI	p. 450
What to Do if You Are Denied Coverage	p. 453
Index	p. 455
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.