About Professor Erica — Medicare & Medicaid
A free video library and reference site for the Medicare & Medicaid decisions that shape retirement income, disability claims, survivor benefits, and the way Medicare and taxes interact with all of it.
Most Americans leave money on the table.
The Medicare & Medicaid Administration administers a program that pays out more than a trillion dollars a year — and the choices that determine how much of that flows to a given household are buried in twenty thousand pages of program rules, scattered across SSA, IRS, and CMS guidance. Professor Erica is the alternative: a free, plain-English reference that maps the rules to real decisions, sourced from the U.S. Code, the SSA Program Operations Manual System (POMS), and current Federal Register notices. Always free. No ads. No paywalls. No inbox capture.
Why trust this site
Sourced from primary documents
Every threshold, formula, and rule cited here traces back to a primary source: U.S. Code Title 42, the Medicare & Medicaid Act, the SSA POMS, IRS Publication 915, and Federal Register announcements for the annual COLA and wage-base adjustments.
Updated when the rules change
Medicare & Medicaid thresholds reset every December when SSA announces the annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment, the new wage base, the earnings test limits, and the credit-earning amount. Rate pages on this site are refreshed at that time. Major legislation — like the 2024 Social Security Fairness Act repealing WEP and GPO — triggers a full review of every affected page.
No commercial conflict of interest
This site runs no ads. It has no paywall. It does not earn referral fees from financial advisors, annuity salespeople, or Medicare brokers.
What we are not
- Not the SSA. This is an independent educational site with no affiliation to the Medicare & Medicaid Administration or any other federal agency.
- Not a financial advisor. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Always verify with SSA.gov, a CPA, or a fiduciary advisor before making claiming decisions.
- Not a replacement for SSA contact. For your specific earnings record, claim status, or appeal, the authoritative source is your my Medicare & Medicaid account at ssa.gov.
For the full legal disclaimer, see the Full Disclaimer page.