home office tax issues

This past year was the first year that I was fortunate enough to work from my home. Working from my home has been a wonderful change for both personal and professional reasons. The only thing that caused a slight issue was the tax filing changes that I had to endure. The office in my home was now considered a tax deduction. I had to get some help learning how to deduct the things that are allowed on my federal taxes. If you are new to working from home and have a home office, this blog can help you learn what you need to know before tax time rolls around.

Accounting for Medicare Insurance Gaps

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Medicare insurance is a valuable tool that is designed to help individuals pay for their medical costs. Unfortunately, there are a number of gaps in Medicare insurance—and being unprepared for these gaps can lead to significant financial problems. Accountants often advise clients to use a few different methods to potentially avoid these gaps. Here's what you need to know.

What Is a Medicare Gap?

"Medicare gap" refers to any type of lapse in Medicare coverage. This is a period of time when a Medicare client would be uncovered, either due to making too much money or due to having spent too much money already. 

The most well known Medicare gap is the "donut hole." The donut hole refers to how coverage for prescriptions is handled. Medicare will cover prescriptions up until a certain amount (a little more than $3,000). After that, a prescription holder needs to pay a $5,000 deductible. Once the $5,000 deductible has been paid, Medicare will kick in again.

How Can You Avoid Medicare Gaps?

There are nearly a dozen different types of supplemental insurance policies that can be used to reduce the severity of Medicare gaps. These supplemental insurance policies often won't cover everything, but they will cover a large amount of the procedures and prescriptions that aren't already covered by Medicare.

In addition to this, patients are cautioned to use their Medicare sparingly. With the prescription gap, it's advised to use generic medications because generic medications will exhaust coverage much more slowly. Those who are experiencing issues with the Medicare gap may also want to look into state assistance programs and low-income subsidy programs.

How Do Your Finances Relate to Medicare?

Most people on Medicare will be 65 or older, though Medicare is also open to those who are on disability. Consequently, Medicare factors heavily into an individual's plans for retirement. If Medicare subsidies do not work out correctly, an individual could find themselves paying more for their retirement costs than they expected. 

When it comes to supplemental insurance, the packages available can vary dramatically. You may not know how much you should pay for supplemental insurance without a complete accounting of your current income and expenses.

An accountant can help you go over your finances and determine whether your Medicare coverage is right for you. There are numerous parts to Medicare coverage, and within each of those parts are different options and supplements. It can be almost impossible to unpack Medicare coverage on your own, so ask a professional for more information.

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27 February 2019