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News
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Legislative Update Week Ending April 20 2018
"Someone who presents with COVID-19 symptoms several days after arriving at their destination could have been infected at home before arriving at the airport, whilst at the airport or on the flight — or even on arrival at their destination airport — because everyone has a variable incubation period for COVID-19," Tang said. ."The distinction between inpatient or outpatient can make a tremendous difference to what Medicare patients have to pay," says TSCL Executive Director, Shannon Benton. Inpatient stays are covered under Medicare Part A. Inpatients who are hospitalized for three days or more qualify for Medicare's limited nursing home stay coverage. Observation stays are considered outpatient services covered under Part B. Observation patients can have much higher copayments costs and sometimes get hit with huge bills for non-covered drugs. .TSCL's surveys have found that moving Medicare Part D to a pricing system that has similarities with Medicaid has strong support among older adults. Seventy percent of those who participated in our 2019 Senior Survey support allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs using a similar system to Medicaid's. … Continued
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Would Obamas Executive Action On Immigration Help Social Securitys Solvency
This week, CMS announced that its cuts to the Medicare Advantage program will total 1.9 percent next year, which is significantly lower than most analysts expected. However, the amount has not been finalized yet, and some say that the figure fails to consider all factors that will affect reimbursements. They expect to see a final rate in the range of 4 to 7 percent. .The high cost of treatment is a frequently cited barrier by those who are not getting the dental care they need. Elizabeth H., a retiree living in Colorado told us "I do not have the ,000 I was told that I needed to get my teeth fixed. They need to either be pulled and a bridge put in, or root canaled. Being on a limited income, I do not see getting any of this done, and so it affects my health negatively. Without dental care, I'm not as healthy as I could be." .In addition, major changes to RMD rules were already underway prior to the CARES Act. The SECURE Act, which passed in 2019, extended the age requirement for starting RMDs. If you reach age 70 ½ in 2020 or thereafter, you may wait until April 1 of the year after you reach age 72 to take your first RMD. For you, that's April 1, 202That gives your 401(k) more time to recover. … Continued
The CPI-E regularly puts the spending inflation for seniors at two-tenths of a percentage point higher than the rate at which the CPI-W increases. That may seem like an insignificant amount, but over a twenty-five-year retirement, COLAs do compound significantly. We estimate that a senior who filed for Social Security benefits around thirty years ago would have received nearly ,000 more in retirement if the CPI-E had been used to calculate COLAs. .Require new deductibles and cost-sharing while limiting what Medigap plans could cover. Because Medicare doesn't cover all of the costs, seniors purchase supplemental coverage, known as "Medigap," to cover deductibles, and co-insurance. A proposal from President Obama's Fiscal Commission would impose a new deductible of 0 and new cost-sharing. Then, it would restrict what Medigap plans could cover, adding up to ,000 in new out-of-pocket costs that the more comprehensive Medigap plans cover now. .In January as my specialist told me goodbye, he gave me a 10-day prescription for a simple .16 antibiotic. Did I get better? Yes, at least for now. While the antibiotic treatment was inexpensive and seems effective at curing the cough, the CT scan and bronchoscopy he ordered last year cost about ,000 before insurance. Would I have done just as well getting that prescription from my primary care doctor and skipping all the rest? Maybe, but how does the patient make that judgment? .Surprisingly, there was no discussion of slowing the growth of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) by switching to the more slowly-growing "chained" CPI. The proposal is getting increasing attention (mostly favorable) in media editorials. Switching to the more slowly-growing chained CPI would reduce cost-of-living-adjustments, and many policy experts view the option as a front-runner for reducing the deficit. .Indeed, the Social Security Administration does not "promise" a specific amount of benefits, but they do not promise to replace a specific percentage of pre-retirement earnings either. Both benefit amounts and "replacement rates" can change at any time if Congress and the Social Security Administration deem it necessary. Prior to the 1977 changes, the replacement rate was not a stable percentage. For people who retired under the 1972-73 flawed formula (those born 1913 through 1916), replacement rates grew from 39% to a high of 54%. The new benefit formula led to a lower, more stable replacement rate of about 43%, as well as lower benefits. .(Washington, DC) – Seventy-eight percent of retirees think Congress should cap what Medicare beneficiaries must spend out-of-pocket on prescription drugs, according to new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Unlike other types of insurance, Medicare Part D has no annual out-of-pocket maximum. This leaves the sickest retirees spending hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in pharmacy costs for prescription medications every year. .A Humana Medicare Advantage plan in Florida improperly collected nearly 0 million in payments in 2015 by overstating how sick some of its enrollees were. A new audit by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is seeking to get the money back. If successful, the audit penalty would be what has been described as "by far the largest" ever imposed on a Medicare Advantage company. But Humana has sharply disputed the OIG's findings, and has said that the recommendations "do not represent final determinations, and Humana will have the right to appeal." .By Representative Al Lawson (FL-05) .Currently doctors are paid for every service they provide, giving a big incentive for wasteful duplication. Patients wind up getting repeated tests, X-rays, CT scans and procedures involving expensive computerized equipment.