David Keller, Author at The Financial Wire

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VA finalized an estimated 5,900 benefit cuts on the grounds that its own earlier decision contained a clear and unmistakable error

David Keller21 hours ago010 mins

VA finalized an estimated 5,900 benefit cuts on the ground that its own earlier decision contained a clear and unmistakable error, according to an August 31, 2026 report from the VA Office of Inspector General. Within the inspector general’s examination of adverse actions on service-connected disability compensation, those 5,900 rating decisions form the largest single…

Bills to end the federal retirees’ cost-of-living cap have sat in committee since 2025

David Keller22 hours ago09 mins

Two bills that would end the cap on cost-of-living adjustments for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuities, H.R. 491 in the House and S. 624 in the Senate, have been in committee since they were introduced in early 2025. Both carry the short title Equal COLA Act and would put FERS adjustments on the same…

Veterans’ pension rates rise automatically with the Social Security raise, but the bill that lifts disability compensation on December 1 is still in committee

David Keller23 hours ago09 mins

VA pension rates and the maximum rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for parents rise automatically each year with the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, but VA disability compensation does not. The bills that would lift disability compensation effective December 1, 2026 remain in committee as of the official records read on October 4, 2026. Until…

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VA claims processors failed to give proper due process in an estimated 4,000 disability cases, its inspector general found

David Keller23 hours ago011 mins

A VA inspector general report dated August 31, 2026 estimates that claims processors failed to give proper due process in about 4,000 cases in which the Department of Veterans Affairs reduced or ended service-connected disability compensation. The report is the Office of Inspector General’s review of how the Veterans Benefits Administration handles adverse actions, meaning…

The 2025 law’s $6,000 senior deduction and $10,000 car-loan interest deduction both expire after tax year 2028

David Keller24 hours ago09 mins

The 2025 tax law created two new deductions with the same end date: $6,000 for people 65 and over and up to $10,000 a year in car-loan interest, each available for tax years 2025 through 2028 and then gone unless Congress acts. The IRS describes both as deductions from taxable income, open whether or not…

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Medicare Advantage plans must publish the eligibility rules they wrote themselves for their extra benefits for the chronically ill from next year

David Keller1 day ago09 mins

A transparency requirement in the contract year 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D final rule means plans must publicly post the eligibility criteria they develop themselves for certain extra benefits, starting with next year’s plans. The rule, announced by CMS on April 2, 2026, applies to the special supplemental benefits that plans offer to chronically…

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Social Security is taking comments until November 23 on merging two medical forms, one of which 760,420 disability claimants fill in each year

David Keller1 day ago010 mins

Social Security is taking public comments until November 23, 2026 on a proposal to fold two medical forms used in disability appeals into one. The Social Security Administration (SSA) would revise Form HA-4631, Claimant’s Recent Medical Treatment, to absorb Form HA-4632, Claimant’s Medications, so that a person who has asked for a hearing would report…

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Original Medicare now runs six private companies’ prior-authorization reviews in six states, covering services including skin substitutes, nerve stimulators and knee arthroscopy

David Keller1 day ago012 mins

Prior authorization is now running inside Original Medicare in six states. The CMS Innovation Center’s WISeR model began on January 1, 2026 in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Washington, and six private companies, one per state, review the requests. The reviews apply to services CMS says have been a source of fraud, waste…

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Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and Iowa each add Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 while California, Kansas, Colorado and Idaho lose them

David Keller1 day ago09 mins

Eight states sit on opposite sides of CMS’s 2027 Medicare Advantage ledger. Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and Iowa each have more plans next year than this year, while California, Kansas, Colorado and Idaho each have fewer, according to the state-by-state fact sheets CMS released on September 28, 2026. The gains are small and the losses larger,…

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Medicare Advantage enrollees, seniors whose Medicare premiums are paid by Medicaid, and those billed the income-related surcharge are shut out of the October payment

David Keller1 day ago010 mins

Medicare Advantage enrollees are shut out of the $90 Medicare Improvement Fund payment, along with people whose Part B premiums are paid by Medicaid and people billed the income-related monthly adjustment amount, or IRMAA. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set out all three exclusions in an FAQ dated October 3, 2026, a day…

David Keller

VA finalized an estimated 5,900 benefit cuts on the grounds that its own earlier decision contained a clear and unmistakable error

Veterans’ pension rates rise automatically with the Social Security raise, but the bill that lifts disability compensation on December 1 is still in committee

VA claims processors failed to give proper due process in an estimated 4,000 disability cases, its inspector general found

The 2025 law’s $6,000 senior deduction and $10,000 car-loan interest deduction both expire after tax year 2028

Medicare Advantage plans must publish the eligibility rules they wrote themselves for their extra benefits for the chronically ill from next year

Original Medicare now runs six private companies’ prior-authorization reviews in six states, covering services including skin substitutes, nerve stimulators and knee arthroscopy

Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and Iowa each add Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 while California, Kansas, Colorado and Idaho lose them

Medicare Advantage enrollees, seniors whose Medicare premiums are paid by Medicaid, and those billed the income-related surcharge are shut out of the October payment

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