Medicare/Medicaid Case Studies Assignment
Assignment Instructions
Case #1
1. If Ben continued working until he turned 64, would he be able to claim Social Security `benefits, and if so, what percentage of his full benefit would he receive?
2. If Ben was in an accident and passed away before retiring, would his wife receive any Social Security benefits? Why or why not?
3. Ben is enrolled in a defined benefit pension plan with his employer. How does this differ from a defined contribution program?
ANSWER
Medicare Case Study
Question One
Social security is a program in the United States meant for old-age survivors and disability insurance. This initiative is run and managed by the social security administration, a federal institution (Heidenheimer, 2017). Even though the program is known for providing retirement benefits, it also offers survivor advantages and income for employees who become disabled. To qualify for this benefit, a worker must be 62 years old and have paid into the system for ten years or even more. For workers who typically wait to collect their social security up to 70, their monthly benefits are higher than the rest. Individuals who cannot work because of a disability may be eligible for benefits if they accomplish specific requirements. If one was born on January 2nd, 1960, the full retirement age for retirement insurance benefits is calculated as 67.
If a person of full retirement age or older is still working, they are allowed to keep all of the benefits no matter the amount they earn. If one is younger than full retirement age, there is always a restriction to how much he or she can earn and still get the full social security advantages. For a person younger than the full retirement age during 2022, the program will subtract $1 from the benefits for every $2 earned above $19,560. In the case of Ben, he can claim his benefits starting from the age of 62; however, in these scenarios, the whole advantage cannot be awarded; hence, he will receive 75% of the total retirement benefits. Ben will only be able to claim his benefits fully when he reaches the retirement age.
Question Two
When a social security beneficiary dies or passes on, the surviving spouse can still get the survivor advantages. In significant cases, the surviving spouse is eligible for 100 percent of the late spouse’s benefit if the survivor has attained maximum retirement age (Dushi, Iams & Trenkamp, 2017). However, the amount will decrease if the deceased spouse claims benefits before reaching the full retirement age. The maximum retirement age for survivors benefits is different from that of retirement and spousal benefits; the current age stands at 66 but will gradually increase to 67 in the coming several years. Suppose a person had been receiving the spousal benefits on the deceased’s work record. In that case, social security will, in significant cases, switch the individual automatically to survivor benefits when the death is announced.
In many scenarios, a widower or widow can be awarded the survivor benefits; he or she is 60 years and above and had been married to the deceased for approximately nine months. There are some restrictions to these requirements, including taking care of children less than 16years or disabled from the marriage. Therefore, if Ben was in an accident and passed away before retiring, the spouse should receive the benefits depending on the score. If Ben died before the retirement age, the wife should be given half of the benefits until that time of maximum retirement age to get full benefits. These are the social security fund regulations and benefits involved for any bereaved spouse. Amendments done in 1972 to the social security policy permitted a widow or widower to get up to the entire primary insurance amount, subject to reductions if the benefits were claimed before the required average retirement age.
Question Three
When it comes to defined-benefit plan, it describes the advantage ahead of time, a monthly compensation in retirement, according to the worker’s occupancy and salary, for life. Usually, the funding cost accumulates fully to the organization. The workers cannot contribute to the arrangement and should not have personal accounts. Their freedom is not to a specific budget but a stream of payments. On the other hand, the advantages are not known when it comes to defined-contribution schemes, but the payment is acknowledged. It manifests in a specific amount from the worker who has a private account within the system and prefers its investments.
Since the investment outcomes are not conventional, the general advantages at retirement are undefined. Still the same, the worker owns the account itself and can extract and transfer the funds within the stipulated plan regulations (Zhao & Sutcliffe, 2021). In the case of Ben, he will be given a given amount from the employer minus his contributions. In summary, settling down for the best pension plan needs participation from the two parties, the employee and employer, which will bring additional contributions to the worker. Some institutions will offer the two programs and allow contributors to roll over 401 (k) balances into the defined-benefit plans. The factors discussed within the paper engage how social security benefits can be claimed and other critical factors associated with it.
References
Dushi, I., Iams, H. M., & Trenkamp, B. (2017). The importance of social security benefits to the income of the aged population. Soc. Sec. Bull., 77, 1.
Heidenheimer, A. J. (2017). Education and social security entitlements in Europe and America. In The development of welfare states in Europe and America (pp. 269-304). Routledge.
Zhao, Z., & Sutcliffe, C. (2021). What determines the asset allocation of defined benefit pension funds?. Applied Economics, 1-14.
