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Whether or Not You Have a White Christmas, Make It Merry This time of year, if you have your home or car radio tuned to a Christmas music station you will undoubtedly hear the song White Christmas, the best-selling Christmas song of all time. As the years have passed, possibly you don’t recall a little of the history of the…

November 28 Is an Important Date, Not Only for This Thanksgiving As we know, this year Thanksgiving Day is on November 28. Since there has been a great deal in the news about Artificial Intelligence (AI), I decided to give it a try. I asked AI: What has happened in history on November 28th? Over a dozen responses pop up.…

As we age, planning for long-term care becomes a priority, especially as we consider how best to support the needs of older adults. The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) recognizes the importance of accessible, reliable resources for retirees and their families, and has compiled an extensive guide to help navigate the complexities of long-term care options. This resource provides invaluable…

During the Medicare Enrollment Period which is open until December 7 have your guard up against scammers who want to obtain your Medicare and Social Security information. Scammers pretend to be from Medicare or a healthcare insurance company. Here are tips to prevent you from being a scam victim. If you receive a call from someone claiming to represent Medicare,…

A little over a month to the election and who will control the House, Senate and White House are up in the air. It is looking like, though, one party will not control all three chambers, which means they must work together and negotiate something that seems particularly hard lately. For retirees, the next few years are critical in that…

The Medicare Open Enrollment Period begins this week on October 15 and continues through December 7. Whether you have original Medicare with prescription and supplement plans, or Medicare Advantage (MA), during the fall enrollment period, you can shop on www.Medicare.gov to sign up for new coverage or change your plan. You can switch from original Medicare to MA (or vice…

Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for more than 72.5 million Americans will increase 2.5% in 2025, the Social Security Administration announced on Friday, October 10.  On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $50 per month starting in January. Over the last decade the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increase has averaged about 2.6 percent. The…

DuPont and Dow Chemical Company announced on December 11, 2015, that their boards of directors had approved an agreement for a “merger of equals.” Naturally, this plan raised concerns about the security of retiree pensions and other benefits, and we needed a mechanism to organize and communicate with the over 100,000 retirees. Paul Kende and I then began a dialogue…

If you have an MA plan it is important to learn whether it will continue next year. Last week the NRLN emailed messages asking: Do You Know Whether Your Medicare Advantage Plan Will Continue in 2025? The reason for the question is that four Medicare Advantage Insurance companies have announced they will drop over 1 million enrollees across the nation…

Vern Larson, President, Avaya Retirees Chapter – NRLN, and his wife Rose, a former IBEW member, serve as an example for the importance of Medicare Guaranteed Issue Rights (GIRs) for Avaya and other retirees. In 2023, after several years of collective bargaining attempts by two international unions and Avaya management, approximately 12,000 Avaya retirees were notified that the parties reached…