Lawsuit Accuses HHS, Social Security of Forcing Medicare on Retirees

[Revmitchell]

The Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are unlawfully penalizing retirees who want to opt out of Medicare by denying them the rest of their rightful Social Security benefits, according to a lawsuit filed by three retirees this week.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Social Security and HHS told them that they would lose the thousands of dollars they had paid into Social Security over the years if they refused to enroll in Medicare Part A.

“These fellows are not asking for any of the money back that they’ve already paid into Medicare. They just want out, and they want their Social Security,” the attorney for the plaintiffs, Kent Brown, told

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[windcatcher]

This defies logic!

The 2002 rule emphasized the intertwining of Social Security benefits with Medicare by stating that the claimant “cannot withdraw HI [Medicare, Part A] coverage only since entitlement to HI [Medicare, Part A] is based on entitlement to monthly RSI [Retirement or Survivors Insurance, i.e. Social Security] benefits ….”