News

  • Weekly Update For Week Ending September 26 2020

    Eighty percent of the nation's active pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas — and China is its No. 2 supplier, behind only Canada. .Both bills are now awaiting the signature of President Donald Trump. He is expected to sign them into law in the very near future. The Senior Citizens League is pleased that lawmakers successfully advanced legislation that will protect the American public from "gag clauses" that result in higher out-of-pocket costs at pharmacies. .However, the pharmaceutical industry has spent billions of dollars over the years fighting this kind of legislation and passing it will not be easy. … Continued

  • Brand Name Drugs Increasing 10x Rate Inflation

    Capping the Part D out-of-pocket spending requirement is a key provision of the bi-partisan Senate drug bill, "Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019" (S.2543). "Several of the provisions of this bill appear to have broad support with Medicare beneficiaries," notes Mary Johnson, a Medicare and Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. The new survey found widespread support among survey participants for capping Medicare Part D out-of-pocket requirements at no more than 0 per month (,000) per year. About 36 percent of survey participants reported spending up to 0 per month on prescriptions in 2019, and another 21 percent spent more than that. .A Census Bureau poll of how households are handling their medical needs during Covid-related closures and stay-at-home orders found that millions are going without care. In the last four weeks to June 9 an estimated 87.7 million people across the nation delayed getting care, while nearly 71 million needed it for something unrelated to Covid-19, but did not get it, .By Representative Alan Nunnelee (MS-1) … Continued

Depending on the size of COLAs and the amount of the Medicare Part B premium increase in following years, it may well take Sally another year, possibly even longer, to see any increase in her net benefit. Meanwhile Sally's other household costs have made big jumps. .I understand there is a large problem with illegal workers obtaining Social Security Disability (SSDI) or Suplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits using fraudulent Social Security numbers. Do we have some data verification? .Emergency 3% COLA, Social Security And Medicare Issues Land on the Congressional Priority List .The new study takes a closer look at the Social Security "hold harmless" provision. Typically, Social Security benefits tend to grow slightly each year as COLAs compound over time. But when the Medicare premium increases more than an individual's COLA that can trigger this special provision of law. Hold harmless protects Social Security benefits when the dollar amount of an individual's annual COLA increase is not sufficient to cover the increase in the Medicare Part B premium increase. If the increase in Medicare Part B premium would cause an individual's net Social Security benefit to be less than it was the year before, then the Part B premium is reduced to ensure the individual's Social Security benefit does not decline. .The news came from preliminary findings from Oxford University, a co-developer of the vaccine. The research could also bring scientists closer to an answer to one of the big questions about the vaccination drive: Will the vaccines curb the spread of the coronavirus? .By way of a quick explanation, except for special circumstances, any legislation that goes through Congress has to start in the committee of jurisdiction, meaning the committee that deals with legislation pertaining to a specific subject. In the case of prescription drug legislation, those committees are Finance, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Appropriations. That's one of the reasons passing this legislation is so complicated. ."This is a major reason why Social Security checks don't keep up with rising Medicare costs," explains Johnson. "In fact, Social Security benefits have lost 34 percent of buying power since 2000," Johnson adds. .I heard that Medicare would be mailing new cards. When can I expect to get mine? .What cost increases should you keep an eye on in 2015? Prescription drugs! To learn more see "Unprecedented Generic Drug Price Spikes Wreaking Havoc."