You are asking yourself the right questions. Many people buy life insurance to replace the income that would be lost when the policyholder dies and no longer is paid a salary. Once you stop working, most of your income is likely to come from retirement savings, pensions, annuities, and Social Security, which pays survivors benefits, if you or a spouse dies. There can be special needs, however, and for some retirees, life insurance may make sense. Here are a few major considerations: .The "house calls" can be money-makers for health plans when they document medical problems like complications from diabetes or heart trouble. Health plans profit because Medicare pays higher rates for sicker patients using a billing formula based on the patient's "risk score." Plans can receive thousands of dollars in higher payments from Medicare even though the insurer incurs no additional costs for covering Medicare services for your brother. .The most widely-discussed proposals to revamp Social Security include raising the eligibility age, making the benefit formula less generous, and reducing the Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Reducing COLAs would impact the lifetime Social Security benefits of all current beneficiaries, as well as affecting future retirees. Under discussion is a proposal that would reduce COLAs by switching to a more slowly-growing, "chained" consumer price index to calculate the annual benefit boost. In fact the new tax law, recently did something similar. Indexing of income tax brackets, the standard deduction, and other parameters of the tax code for inflation was tied to a chained COLA. That means that people will pay higher taxes over time, as the standard deduction becomes less generous, while rising income would tend to push older taxpayers into higher brackets. .However, taking this action would cause at least two difficulties for the President. Signing legislation to reduce Medicare spending on the drugs would generate official budget savings that Congress could have applied to other health-care legislation -- bills to expand insurance coverage or reduce other drug spending, for example. Executive action taken before a bill's passage would remove a key bargaining chip, and likely reduce the scope of a health-care bill expected in the coming months. .People who decide to go on a cruise should get tested 1–3 days before their trip and 3–5 days after their trip. ."The greatest risk in flight would be if you happen to draw the short straw and sit next to or in front, behind or across the aisle from an infector," said Richard Corsi, who studies indoor air pollution and is the dean of engineering at Portland State University. .Finally, one new cosponsor – Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL-20) – signed on to the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (H.R. 574) this week bringing the total up to thirty-seven. If signed into law, H.R. 574 would repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR), which is the flawed formula that is currently used to determine reimbursements for physicians who treat Medicare patients. Adopting H.R. 574 would bring increased stability to the Medicare program for both physicians and beneficiaries. .August Recess Continues .That was the second ruling in a week to delay the policy. A federal judge in Maryland had ordered on Dec. 23 that the rule, which was slated to take effect Jan. 1, be paused for two weeks.