By Michelle Andrews; Kaiser Health News ~ Dec 13, 2013

Q. My wife and I are retired, and we’re both under 65. We have health insurance through my previous employer’s retiree-only plan. In 2014, the premium for our coverage will double, to 13.3 percent of our income. But since coverage for me alone would “only” cost 6.7 percent of our income, we won’t qualify for subsidies on the exchange. Is there any way that one or both of us can opt out of my retiree-only plan and get subsidized insurance on the exchange?

By Bruce Japsen; Forbes ~ Dec 13, 2013

There are now three bipartisan bills sitting before the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives to finally fix a flaw in how Medicare pays physicians by basing more of their reimbursement on performance and quality measures.

Doctors, who have watched Congress dither and delay for years, may see the repeal of Medicare’s “sustainable growth rate,” or SGR, reimbursement formula. Doctors have long been upset at the lack of a permanent solution for dramatic cuts to doctor payments from Medicare in what has since been labeled the “doc fix.”

By Paula Span; The New York Times ~ Dec 13, 2013

The last time we discussed the toll that caring for older relatives takes on working people, particularly women, readers shared some wrenching experiences:

Karen from Los Angeles wrote that when her father, who had Parkinson’s disease, moved in with her and her sister, she wound up losing her job in finance and became his full-time caregiver. “I wouldn’t give up one moment I had taking care of my father,” she said, but she described herself as “56 years old, very little in savings and no prospects for another decent job with benefits.”

By Sarah Kliff; The Washington Post ~ Dec 10, 2013

We’re inching closer to Obamacare’s Dec. 23 deadline for purchasing insurance coverage that begins on Jan. 1. And with HealthCare.gov now working for most — but not all — consumers, questions are pouring in about how to actually make an informed, successful insurance purchase. This guide is what you need to know — and we’ll be updating it going forward, as we get new questions from readers.

By Scott Gottlieb; Forbes ~ Dec 09, 2013

The President famously promised that you could keep your health plan and doctor. For many people, both of those pledges are turning out to be false. And now, you might not be able to keep your medicine, either.

There are two reasons why. The first has to do with the higher out of pocket costs patients will face. The second issue may be even more significant.

By Robert Pear; The New York Times ~ Dec 09, 2013

WASHINGTON — For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details, they are finding that the deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs are often much higher than what is typical in employer-sponsored health plans.

AT&T Seeks to End Long-Term Discounts on Special Access Plans

By Gautham Nagesh; The Wall Street Journal ~ Dec 09, 2013

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission on Monday suspended AT&T Inc.’s plan to stop offering long-term discounts on special access plans.

The program provides higher-capacity data and voice services to businesses, ATMs and other users. AT&T filed new tariffs last month seeking to discontinue special access plans over three years, as part of the company’s strategy to transition to newer, Internet Protocol-based technology.

By Bruce Japsen; Forbes ~ Dec 08, 2013

General SurgeryDoctor and nurse vacancies are approaching nearly 20 percent at hospitals as these facilities prepare to be inundated by millions of patients who have the ability to pay for medical care thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

A survey by health care provider staffing firm AMN Healthcare shows the vacancy rate for physicians at hospitals near 18 percent in 2013 while the nurse vacancy rate is 17 percent. That vacancy rate is more than three times what it was just four years ago when vacancies for nurses were just 5.5 percent in 2009 while vacancies for doctors were 10.7 percent.

By Robert Powell; The Wall Street Journal ~ Dec 08, 2013

When you’re saving for retirement, it’s fairly easy to measure your progress. You compare your actual return with your expected rate of return and look at the total value of the portfolio. If you aren’t getting your expected rate of return—and if your portfolio’s projected value falls short of your target—well, your plan is failing.

But what happens when you’re living in retirement? How do you measure success or failure then? There are, of course, several methods for doing so. But a recent survey by Russell Investments, a Seattle-based asset manager, shows that financial advisers don’t agree on the best approach—and that some could be flying blind when assessing your nest egg. Here are a few techniques to consider:

By Tim Cavanaugh; The Daily Caller ~ Dec 07, 2013

Widespread fears that Affordable Care Act exchanges would fail to guard customer information are already coming true in California, where the state exchange is giving selected insurance agents customer contact information, resulting in unwanted calls and emails to Californians who have checked out the exchange but declined to buy insurance.