Fong Law Group

Medicare Enrollment Period Extended for Those Who’ve Been Getting a Busy Signal

Medicare is part of the Social Security Administration (SSA), so if you need to enroll in Medicare, that’s whom you contact. But in recent months, phone lines at the SSA were experiencing major technical issues, preventing some individuals from being able to reach the SSA via telephone in a timely manner. These issues affected the SSA’s national 800 number as well as its field office general inquiry phone lines. At the same time, because of the pandemic, SSA offices had not been permitting in-person appointments until early April.

Certain beneficiaries — particularly those without Internet access — were therefore unable to reach the SSA before the end of Medicare’s annual general enrollment period, which typically closes March 31.

As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced it will provide what is known as equitable relief to anyone who, due to these challenges, was unable to submit their Medicare enrollment or disenrollment requests after January 1, 2022. These individuals will now have extra time — through Friday, December 30, 2022 — to submit Medicare Part A or Part B enrollment or disenrollment requests without penalty. This relief from penalties also applies to the 2022 Initial Enrollment Period and Special Enrollment Periods.

Individuals who were eligible to be on Medicare and incurred medical care costs during this time period can request retroactive Medicare coverage going back to January 1, 2022. Note, however, that premiums must be paid as a lump sum or else can be deducted from any Social Security benefits the individual currently receives.

Contact the SSA’s national 800 number at 1-800-772-1213 for more information, or find an SSA office near you via the SSA’s online office locator.

Claiming Social Security Benefits at Age 70

If you are about to turn 70, congratulations on reaching a big milestone.  And if you also have delayed claiming Social Security retirement benefits up till now, you are joining a select group -- only 6.5 percent of Social Security recipients put off collecting their benefits until they reach three score and ten, the age at which they can collect the maximum benefit. If you are about to join this elite group of septuagenarian claimers, it’s important to know when and how to claim.

The decision of how long to wait to claim Social Security benefits depends on a number of factors, including other income sources in retirement and projected longevity.  But Social Security experts advise waiting as long as possible to start collecting benefits, up to age 70.  This is because if you delay taking retirement beyond your full retirement age (66 for those born from 1943 to 1954), you amass “delayed retirement credits” that increase your benefit by 8 percent for every year that you wait, over and above annual inflation adjustments.  Your checks will be about 76 percent more than had you claimed at age 62, the earliest you can file. It’s tough to find a better and more reliable investment than that. (However, keep in mind that if you are collecting benefits based on the work record of a current or ex-spouse, there is no point in waiting until 70 -- you won't accrue delayed retirement credits beyond your full retirement age.)

Don’t Wait Any Longer

Delayed retirement credits stop at age 70, so there is no advantage to putting off starting benefits any longer.  Not only won’t your credits increase by claiming after age 70, but if you wait longer than half a year, you’ll start losing monthly benefits you would have otherwise received.  The Social Security Administration (SSA) will pay you retroactively for benefits accrued up to six months after your 70th birthday, but that’s it.  If you wait any longer, benefits you would have received are permanently forfeited.

The next thing to know is that the SSA won’t automatically start sending you checks once you turn 70. You need to apply for benefits. You can do this starting four months before the date that you want your benefits to begin.  To get the maximum amount, you’ll want the benefits to start the month you turn 70.  There is, however, one scenario where benefits will automatically kick in at 70: those who took benefits after reaching their full retirement age and then suspended their benefits to earn delayed credits until age 70.  For them, the SSA should automatically restart benefits at 70.

You can apply online -- click here.  If you can’t submit your application online, you can call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). In normal times, another alternative is to visit your local Social Security office, but during the pandemic visits are by appointment only and only for a limited number of reasons. However, SSA offices should be reopening soon; check the SSA’s Coronavirus Disease page for updates. The SSA will want certain information and documents when you apply. For a checklist of what may be required, click here.

When will you get your first check?  The SSA issues checks a month behind, so your benefits should start arriving the month after the month you turned 70.  For example, if you were born July 17, you should ask that your benefits start in July and your first check will come in August.  However, those born on the first day of the month get a small bonus: the SSA treats them as if they were born the previous month and starts paying benefits in their birth month.  So, for example, if you were born July 1, you’d request benefits to start in June and the payments would begin in July.

What If You’re Still Working?

Working past age 70 (or any time past your full retirement age, in fact) won’t affect your benefits.  And while you won’t increase your monthly benefit by waiting past age 70 to claim, you could boost it by working in addition to collecting Social Security. This is because the SSA recalculates your benefits each December based on your 35 highest-earning years of work. If your earnings plus your Social Security benefits allow you to replace a lower-earning year, your overall benefit could increase in the annual calculation. But Social Security benefits are taxable, so if you’re earning more money your tax rate may be higher.

In most cases, your Medicare premiums will be deducted from your Social Security check. If you happen to be retiring at age 70 and you’ve been paying Medicare’s high-earner surcharges, keep in mind that you can reverse these surcharges if your income drops far enough. The Social Security Administration uses income reported two years ago to determine a beneficiary's premiums. If your income decreases significantly due to certain circumstances, including retirement, you can request that the SSA recalculate your benefits and your premium surcharges could be eliminated or reduced. 

For an article in The New York Times on determining the optimal time to claim Social Security benefits and ways to maximize benefits, click here.

For the SSA's Retirement Benefits page, click here.

Closing of Social Security Field Offices Disrupted SSI Benefits for Thousands, Lawsuit Charges

Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) might describe it as an open-and-shut case. When the SSA closed its field offices at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remained open for the purposes of denying benefits. But, plaintiffs say, the agency was effectively shut for low-income elderly adults and people with disabilities who needed to validate claims, or who sought to challenge the agency’s denial of their claims. The result: thousands of beneficiaries whose benefits were wrongfully reduced or discontinued, according to the suit.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the basic federal safety net program for the elderly, blind and disabled, providing them with a minimum guaranteed income. As of September 2021, some 2.3 million people aged 65 or older were receiving SSI payments.

SSI recipients are required to demonstrate that they meet income and resource limits each month in order to qualify for assistance, and they must promptly report any changes in their financial circumstances that might affect their status. Failure to perform this routine, which traditionally many have done in person at local field offices, can result in the denial of benefits and a demand for repayment of benefits already sent.

While the SSA made provisions for people to report their information by phone, fax or mail after closing its offices in March 2020, this was easier said than done for the elderly and people with disabilities, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, by the advocacy group Justice in Aging and others on behalf of a group of SSI recipients whose benefits were unlawfully reduced or terminated.

“These recipients—who are disabled, elderly, or both—are at high risk for serious consequences from COVID-19, which limits their ability to venture into their communities to secure needed documentation, go to the post office or to send faxes to SSA,” the lawsuit reads. Furthermore, even when recipients did file their information on time, often the SSA failed to process it for months, only to rule later that the beneficiaries had been overpaid and would have their future benefits docked.

Even a no-fault waiver of overpayment debts that the SSA issued in August 2020 did not mitigate the issue, because it was too limited, the lawsuit argues. For instance, to qualify for the waiver, the overpayment had to have occurred before September 30, 2020, and must have been brought to the SSA’s notice by the end of that year. Many people weren’t informed about the waiver, the lawsuit claims, and therefore could not apply for it.

Nearly 300,000 people have stopped receiving SSI since the closure of the offices, during a pandemic that has hit the elderly and those with disabilities particularly hard, the lawsuit notes. “Adults 65 and older have been the most at risk of death from COVID-19 and have constituted almost 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths. In addition, the risk of death from COVID-19 for persons with disabilities has been three times that of the general population.”

The plaintiffs, who are also represented by New York Legal Assistance Group and law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, have demanded a jury trial.

For Justice in Aging’s press release on the litigation, click here.

Seniors Affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic Have More Time to Apply for Medicare or Change Plans

The closure of Social Security offices has caused problems and worries for recently unemployed seniors who need to apply for Medicare after losing their employer coverage. In response, the federal government has announced that seniors affected by the crisis have additional time to enroll in Medicare or change plans.

With millions of people out of work and losing their employer health insurance due to the coronavirus pandemic, the need for Medicare coverage is critical. While it is possible for some seniors to apply for Medicare online, others need to provide more information, including individuals who did not sign up for Medicare Part B initially because they had health insurance through an employer. Seniors who are applying for Medicare Part B after losing their job need to provide proof of their employer policy along with their Medicare application to ensure they aren’t subject to substantial penalties. With Social Security offices closed, Medicare applicants may have difficulty figuring out how to submit the necessary information or getting answers to their questions about their application. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced changes to Medicare enrollment periods to help seniors affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Those who missed their opportunity to enroll in Medicare will have additional time to apply. CMS is providing “equitable relief” to seniors who:

• were in their Initial Enrollment Period (IEP), General Enrollment Period (GEP), or Special Enrollment Period (SEP) between March 17, 2020, and June 17, 2020; and
• did not submit an enrollment request to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Seniors have until June 17, 2020, to submit an application. Applications can be submitted via fax to 1-833-914-2016 or mailed to the local SSA field office. Although SSA offices are closed for in-person service, offices are still processing applications received by mail. For the SSA’s Social Security Office Locator, go here: https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp. 

For questions and answers on how to submit a Medicare application and what information is needed, click here.

In addition, CMS has announced an SEP for people to make changes to their Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans if they missed the open enrollment period or a special enrollment period due to the coronavirus pandemic. The SEP is available until July 13, 2020. 

For more information from CMS, click here.

How Your Stimulus Check Affects Medicaid Eligibility

The coronavirus relief bill includes a direct payment to most Americans, but this has Medicaid recipients wondering how the payment will affect them. Because the payment is not income, it should not count against a Medicaid recipient’s eligibility. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides a one-time direct payment of $1,200 to individuals earning less than $75,000 per year ($150,000 for couples who file jointly), including Social Security beneficiaries. Individuals earning up to $99,000 ($198,000 for joint filers) will receive smaller stimulus checks. Payments are based on either 2018 or 2019 tax returns.  

The basic Medicaid rule for nursing home residents is that they must pay all of their income, minus certain deductions, to the nursing home. If the stimulus payment were considered income, it would likely have to go straight to the nursing home. Since in most states Medicaid recipients cannot have more than $2,000 in assets, there was also concern that the stimulus payments could put many recipients over the asset limit. 

In a blog post, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has clarified that the SSA will not consider stimulus payments as income for Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) recipients, and the payments will be excluded from resources for 12 months. Because state Medicaid programs cannot impose eligibility requirements that are stricter than SSI requirements, the payments should not affect Medicaid eligibility.

Social Security Shutters 'Petri Dish' Offices in Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

To protect its workers and the public during the coronavirus pandemic, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has suspended face-to-face service to at its field offices and hearings offices nationwide until further notice. Payments to the nearly 70 million Social Security beneficiaries will not be affected.

While in-person appointments will still be made for certain critical services (see below), the SSA is encouraging beneficiaries to transact as much business as possible online using the agency’s website. (If you don’t have an online account yet, click here.)

Certain services also will continue to be available via the agency’s toll-free line, (800) 772-1213 or from local offices’ General Inquiry lines. (For the local office locator, click here.)

Why the Closure?

Budget cuts to Social Security over the years have led to crowded offices and long wait times.  With the advent of the coronavirus outbreak, this went from being an inconvenience to a public health threat.  The union representing the SSA’s 61,000 workers was deeply concerned about the health of the agency’s workforce as well as the danger to the public.

“The offices are petri dishes,” Richard Couture, a spokesman for the union, told The New York Times.  “People are sitting there for a long time, magnifying and multiplying the risk of infection for everyone there, and to people on the outside.”

How to Get in Touch During the Shutdown

Examples of tasks or inquiries that can be accomplished online include:

• Applying for retirement, disability, and Medicare benefits;
• Checking the status of an application or appeal;
• Requesting a replacement Social Security card (in most areas); or
• Requesting a replacement Medicare card.

(For a complete list, click here.)

Phone services will also be available, although the SSA says it is “focusing on providing specific critical services to people in dire need.” Examples of how the SSA can help by phone include:

• If you did not receive your monthly payment;
• If you are currently homeless or at risk of becoming homeless; or
• If your benefits were suspended and can now be reinstated.

Expect long wait times if calling, however.

In-Person Appointments

In-person help will still be available for a limited list of critical services, including:

• Reinstatement of benefits in dire circumstances;
• Assistance to people with severe disabilities, blindness or terminal illnesses; or
• Help for those in urgent need of eligibility decisions for Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid eligibility related to work status.

If you require such services, you must call in advance; there are no walk-ins at the field offices.

What if you already had a standing appointment or disability hearing scheduled?  If this is the case, the SSA will call you to reschedule or to take care of the issue by phone. Unfortunately, this call may come from a private phone number rather than from a government phone because employees are working remotely and do not necessarily have government-issued phones. Identity theft phone scams where callers impersonate SSA workers were already on the rise, and this will likely only add to beneficiaries' confusion. Be aware that agency employees will never inform you that your Social Security number has been suspended, demand payment, or seek credit card information.  (Scams taking advantage of the situation have already started.)

For full details on changes to SSA services brought on by the response to the coronavirus, go to the SSA’s Social Security & Coronavirus page, https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/

If you are enrolling in Medicare, you can get free counseling from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).  To find your state program, click here.  

Thinking of Claiming Social Security Early Because of Headlines? 因頭條新聞而想提早領取社會安全金？(中英對照)

“Despite a permanently reduced monthly benefit, here's why more workers could opt to take their payout as early as age 62.”

The Social Security Administration reports that 62% of retired Americans rely on their benefits for at least half of their income stream, with about a third of Americans relying on Social Security for almost all their post-working income. That’s been corroborated by Gallup organization surveys of retired and non-retired people, according to an article in The Motley Fool titled “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade.” Only one in 10 people don’t depend on Social Security at all for income when they are retired.

Claiming early means a smaller monthly and lifetime benefit for you and likely for your surviving spouse. Your retirement benefits are based on your 35 highest earning, inflation adjusted, years. To max out, you’ll need to have worked for 35 years. Years with zero income can impact your overall totals.

Birth year is another factor. That determines your Full Retirement Age (FRA), the year that you become eligible to receive your full retirement benefit. Claim earlier, and you risk permanently reducing the monthly benefit by as much as a third. Claiming after your FRA could boost benefits by 32%.

Most people do start claiming Social Security benefits before their FRA, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s because they have lost their job, are over 60 and can’t get hired. Some people simply don’t know that the longer they wait to claim, the higher their benefits will be. What is clear is that 60% of retired workers in 2013 took their benefits between 62-64, with another 30% claiming between 65-66. One in 10 workers took benefits after their FRA.

There has been a change in recent years. While more people are waiting longer to claim their benefits, fewer are waiting until their FRA. The reason is tied to the headlines. People are worried that Social Security is going to be cut, and they want to get the income they can while the agency is still fully funding benefits.

The 2018 Trustees Report (officially, "The 2018 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds”) said the agency will pay out more than it collects in 2018, the first time this has occurred since 1982. The net cash outflow is expected to grow faster starting in 2020, and then by 2034, the $2.89 trillion in assets may be gone. Congress will need to act, or benefit cuts to all retirees will have to be made—by as much as 21%.

Can anyone know what will occur between now and 2034? Congress could fix any concerns by passing a bill that solves the problem, and those who claim early will be left with smaller benefits. We also don’t know when we are going to die. The decision of when to claim must be made by each individual, based on their FRA, their other sources of retirement income and their expectations for the future.

Reference: The Motley Fool (Dec. 20, 2018) “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade”

“因每月的福利金長年地減少，這就是為什麼更多在職人士選擇提前在62歲時領取支付。”

社會保障管理局報告說，62%的退休美國人至少有一半的收入依賴他們的福利，大約三分之一的美國人依靠社會福利來獲得退休後的收入。根據The Motley Fool的一篇題為“Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade.”的文章，蓋洛普組織對退休和非退休人員的調查證實了這一點。只有十分之一的人在退休時沒有依賴社會保障以獲得收入。

提前申請意味著您和您的在生配偶可能會獲得較小的每月和終身福利。您的退休福利基於您的35個最高收入，通貨膨脹調整,工作年數。若要領取最高額的退休金，你需要工作35年。收入為零的年份會影響您的總體收入。

出生年份是另一個因素。這決定了您的完全退休年齡（FRA），即您有資格獲得全額退休福利的年份。提前申請，您可能會將每月福利金額永久性地降低三分之一。在您的完全退休年齡之後申請可以將福利額提高32%。

由於各種原因，大多數人確實開始在完全退休年齡之前申請社會福利。有時是因為他們失去了工作，已經超過60歲而且無法被雇用。有些人根本不知道他們等待申請的時間越長，他們的福利就越高。顯而易見的是，2013年60%的退休工人在62-64之間獲得了福利，另有30%的人在65-66之間獲得。十分之一的人在完全退休年齡之後獲得了福利。

近年來發生了變化。儘管有很多人願等長一點時間來領取退休金，但更少的人等待他們的完全退休年齡，原因與他們每天讀到的頭條新聞有關。人們擔心社會安全金將被用盡，他們希望該部門還能提供保障時領取收入。

2018年受託人報告（正式，“2018年聯邦老年和在生保險和聯邦殘疾保險信託基金董事會年度報告”）表示，該機構在2018年入不敷支，這是自1982年以來第一次發生這種情況。從2020年開始，淨現金額流出預計將增長更快，然後到2034年，2.89萬億美元的資產可能會消失。因此國會需要採取行動，或者必須削減所有退休人士的利益 - 高達21%。

誰能知道從現在到2034年之間會發生什麼？國會可以通過一項方案去解決社會安全金的問題。如果是這樣的話，那些提前申請的人將獲得較小的福利。我們也不知道什麼時候會死。何時領取的決定必須由每個人根據他們的完全退休年齡, 他們的其他收入來源以及他們對未來的期盼而作出。

參考: The Motley Fool (Dec. 20, 2018) “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade”