Word: out-of-pocket
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...program will then cover 75% of drug costs up to a maximum of $2,250. At that point, because of the budget restriction, a gap in coverage (known in Washington as a "doughnut hole") occurs. The next $2,850 in prescription-drug bills must be paid out of pocket. But once out-of-pocket expenses reach $3,600, the catastrophic provision kicks in, and Medicare pays 95% of any remaining costs (see chart above...
...time when companies are increasingly shifting health-care costs to workers, the IRS is sweetening a tax-advantaged way for employees to pay out-of-pocket expenses. Last month the agency ruled that flexible-spending accounts, or FSAs, can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs like cough syrup and pain relievers, in addition to long-accepted items like copayments, prescriptions and glasses. FSAs let people contribute and spend pretax dollars. Any unused money in the account at year's end reverts to the employer, but the number of spending options is growing. Most companies will change plan...
...ugly secrets of the pharmaceutical industry is that it charges higher prices to its most vulnerable customers. Medicare recipients without supplemental insurance are already charged far more than anyone else, because they pay for their drugs out-of-pocket and have nobody to bargain on their behalf. Other government and private health plans use their purchasing power to blunt drug prices. They also steer patients toward cost-effective drugs by refusing to pay full freight for expensive brand-name drugs, whose claims to extra effectiveness are often dubious...
...program’s long-term financial problems. Politicians are avoiding the painful choices discussed by national commissions assigned to weigh the options. Commission reports usually include some combination of recommendations that include increasing the retirement age, requiring seniors to pay a larger share of Medicare costs out-of-pocket, means-testing benefits, increasing payroll taxes and reducing payments to doctors and hospitals for treating people covered by Medicare...
MANAGE YOUR DEBT Make extra payments to get your mortgage balance below 75% of your home's appraised value. That way, if prices fall 25% and you find you must sell (job loss, divorce), there would be no out-of-pocket cost. If buying or refinancing now, consider only fixed-rate loans to lock in low rates--and keep in mind the new "portable" mortgage from eTrade, which lets you lock in a low rate and transfer it from house to house for 30 years...