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High hospital costs seem to be a fact of life that most Americans have reluctantly come to accept. What most people don't realize, however, is that not all of those charges are legit: Many medical bills contain fraudulent charges.
While the pundits debated the vices and virtues of Mitt Romney's and Newt Gingrich's tax returns, the folks at Kiplinger were scouring them for ideas that could help you. Even if you'll never have a Swiss bank account or own complex foreign assets, these dozen moves could help you lower your IRS bill.
There's a persistent assumption going around about what happens after one retires -- your spending shrinks. Sure, your house may be paid off by then, and you may be able to ditch some work-related expenses. But that's not the full picture.
Health spending stabilized as a share of the nation's economy in 2010 after two back-to-back years of historically low growth, the government reported Monday. Experts debated whether it's a fleeting consequence of the sluggish economy, or a real sign that cost controls by private employers and government at all levels are starting to work.
Years ago, the fellow who was running the IRS at the time told Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpaid their taxes every year by overlooking just one of the money-savers listed here.
The woes Social Security faces have generated plenty of worried talk lately, but even if nothing changes, it'll be solvent until 2036. But Medicare, the other major government program that retirees rely on, is on course for financial disaster years sooner. That program, of course, is Medicare, and the funding situation for the portion of its benefits that retirees receive looks even scarier than Social Security's prospects right now.
Good news: Retirees will get a 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2012 -- their first boost since 2009. Bad news: The average benefit is $1,229 a month, about the equivalent of working for minimum wage.
Medicare says it's launching a national experiment to improve care for seniors, and hopefully save taxpayers money as well. Officials announced that 32 networks of doctors and hospitals around the country are becoming Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations, or ACO, which will pursue a coordinated approach to medicine.
Supporters of President Obama's health care reform laws got a major boost when a key opponent lost her business. Mary Brown, whose whose standing to sue is integral to the largest lawsuit against Obama's health care reforms, may be forced to abandon her legal challenge.
Years ago, the fellow running the IRS told Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpaid their taxes every year by overlooking just one of these deductions. Don't be one of those millions: Read on, and find out how to cut your tax bill to the bone.

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