Medicare

FILE - Pharmaceuticals are seen in North Andover, Mass., June 15, 2018. After decades of failed attempts, Democrats passed legislation that aims to reign in the soaring costs of drugs for some Americans. It will take years for Americans to realize some of the most significant savings promised in the climate and health care bill that President Joe Biden signed earlier this month. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Does HHS have a handle on climbing medicare payments?

Medicare Advantage was established to make health care delivery more efficient. Nowadays, nearly half of all Medicare recipients are part of a Medicare…

Agency Oversight

Getty Images/iStockphoto/Ildo Frazao

Some final advice before this year’s Open Season runs out

Open Season

Millions of Americans will save on Medicare fees next year

Benefits

Will telehealth — which exploded during the pandemic — continue to boom?

Technology

FILE - A sign is displayed outside the Internal Revenue Service building May 4, 2021, in Washington. On Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming an online job ad shows that all new employees that the IRS intends to hire after a funding boost in the Inflation Reduction Act will be required to carry a firearm and use deadly force if necessary. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

There’s no 2023 budget, but lots of new money is flowing into at least some federal agencies

Congress

Medicare and FEHB Coordination

For Your Benefit

(Becky Malewitz/South Bend Tribune via AP)

How did Congress move so fast on that Juneteenth law anyhow?

Congress

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2018 file photo, the U.S. Medicare Handbook is photographed in Washington. The Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s pick to run U.S. health insurance programs, putting in place a key player who’ll carry out his strategy for expanding affordable coverage and reining in prescription drug costs. Obama-era policy adviser Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will be the first Black woman to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which also administers children’s health insurance and the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Senate confirms Brooks-LaSure to run health care programs

People

United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on

USPS 10-year plan looks to redefine ‘unachievable’ service standards

The Postal Service, faced with unacceptable delays delivering mail and packages, is “evaluating all service standards” as part of a 10-year business plan.

Agency Oversight

Open Enrollment Caution Sign With Autumn Road Background

Open season 2021: What you need to know

Yes, premiums under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program are going up again in 2021, but there’s a few things you need to know that may help…

Federal Insights

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2005 file photo, trays of printed social security checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Management services facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower, File)

Retiree checks to rise 1.3% in 2021 amid coronavirus fallout

Retirement

Social Security recipients will get a modest 1.3% cost-of living-increase in 2021, but that might be small comfort amid worries about the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences for older people