What Is the Medicare Star Rating System? The Medicare Star Rating System is a method for consumers to evaluate and compare Part D drug plans and Medicare Advantage Plans, which vary greatly in terms of cost and coverage. Medicare reviews the performance of plans once a year and publishes new star ratings each fall. Key Takeaways Medicare Advantage Plans and
What Is Medicare Supplement Insurance? Medicare Supplement Insurance is sold by private insurance companies and pays medical costs not covered by Medicare. Better known as Medigap, this insurance covers out-of-pocket costs like copays, coinsurance, and deductibles. Key Takeaways Medicare Supplement Insurance, or Medigap, is a type of health insurance policy sold by private insurance companies to complement
What Are Medicare Wages? Medicare wages are employee earnings that are subject to a U.S. payroll tax known as the Medicare tax. Similar to the other U.S. payroll tax, Social Security, the Medicare tax is used to fund the government’s Medicare program, which provides subsidized healthcare and hospital insurance benefits to people ages 65 and older and to
What Is Medigap Insurance? Medigap, also called Medicare Supplement Insurance, is health insurance coverage provided by private companies designed to pay for costs not covered by Original Medicare. Depending on which plan you get, these costs might include copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles, as well as services Original Medicare doesn’t cover, such as travel outside of
What Is a Medium of Exchange? A medium of exchange is an intermediary instrument or system used to facilitate the purchase and sale of goods and services between parties. For a system to function as a medium of exchange, it must represent a standard of value. Further, all parties to the transaction must accept that
What Is a Megamerger? A megamerger is an agreement that unites two large corporations, typically in a transaction worth billions of dollars, into one new legal entity. These deals differ from traditional mergers due to their scale, hence the inclusion of the word mega. Megamergers occur through the acquisition, merger, consolidation, or combination of two
What Is Mello-Roos? A Mello-Roos is an ad hoc California tax district created to finance an infrastructure project. A district may be created only with the approval of two-thirds of voters and permits a special tax to be assessed on its residents. The state law allowing such districts was implemented in 1982 as a way
What Is a Melt-Up? A melt-up is a sustained and often unexpected improvement in the investment performance of an asset or asset class, driven partly by a stampede of investors who don’t want to miss out on its rise, rather than by fundamental improvements in the economy. Gains that a melt-up creates are considered to
What Is a Member Firm? The term member firm refers to a brokerage or financial firm with membership to at least one organized stock exchange, commodities exchange, or another type of securities exchange. Member firms are given the rights and privileges to trade on the exchanges to which they belong. Membership is normally granted to
What Is Member Month? Member month refers to the number of individuals participating in an insurance plan each month. Member month is calculated by taking the number of individuals enrolled in a plan and multiplying that sum by the number of months in the policy. Member months help insurance companies calculate the average monthly premiums
