News

  • Flo Was Wrong I Do Want Big Government In My Medicine Cabinet

    More than one quarter of respondents spent from 0 to 9 a month on their healthcare during the first six months in 201That ranges from 27% to as much as 54% of the average monthly Social Security payment, which is hovering at ,100 this year. The majority of respondents, 45%, reported that they received a monthly Social Security benefit that falls within the range of 1 to ,335 after deduction for the Medicare Part B premium. .Surprise! A new Part D plan drug pricing program may lower costs for those who seek out the savings. Recent Congressional scrutiny on drug pricing may be spurring some drug plans to drop prices on certain drugs. A new drug plan pricing program offered by Cigna, for example, lowers the cost of insulin. In 2018, the lowest cost Part D plan charged an copay for a 100/ML of Lantus Solostar. In 2019, the lowest cost plan in my area charges copays as low as .00 - .00 for Lantus Solostar in the Cigna-HealthSpring Rx Secure — Extra Part D plan. The highest cost plan, which does not cover Lantus, charges the full price, 3.18 per 100/ML. Which would you rather have? .The loss of a job entitles each of you to a Special Enrollment Period (SEP), but the rules and deadlines will differ for each of you. Because your husband is under the age of 65, he should check options for coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace (www.Healthcare.Gov). Because of your husband's job loss, your income may be lower and he may qualify for an advance premium tax credit subsidy that would lower the cost of premiums. … Continued

  • Category Issues Totalization Articles Page 3

    Scrapping the Social Security payroll tax cap on the taxable wages would not only provide enough revenues to make the program solvent for another 50 years, but would also pay for a more fair and accurate cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for current retirees. For example, say a CEO of a company receives million in compensation. That individual and the employer each pays 6.2% Social Security taxes on the first 8,500 in wages. Social Security receives a total of ,69But if the entire million were taxed, Social Security would receive 8,000 instead. .In addition to a growing number of people affected by the tax, those who are affected pay a growing share of their benefits in taxes as well. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 52 million Social Security beneficiaries paid 6.7% of their Social Security benefits as income tax in 2014, and projects that will rise in the future to 10% or more. .Other priorities in 2015 will include advocating for a more fair and accurate Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, monitoring the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and protecting Medicare Advantage enrollees from harsh and unforeseen benefit cuts. … Continued

Mandatory programs are those, like Medicare, that are automatically funded every year without passage of annual legislation to pay for them. Congress can, however, waive the PAYGO rules to avoid the payment cuts. .2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, like Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine .We urge you to contact Members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor "The Notch Fairness Act." Suggest that by cutting the rate of improper payments due to waste, fraud and abuse, your elected lawmakers can correct the most improper payment of all, the disparity in benefits caused by the Notch and erroneous government assumptions. .One new cosponsor also signed on to Rep. Eliot Engel's (NY-16) Guaranteed 3% COLA Act (H.R. 1585) this week. His bill would ensure that the annual COLA is no less than 3 percent. Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17) signed on, and he is the bill's first cosponsor. .Source: "Analysis of Plan 2 of The President's Commission on Social Security," Congressional Budget Office, July 21, 2004. .Report Says Drug Prices in U.S. Almost 3 Times Higher than Other Countries .Sources: "Salaries of Members of Congress," Ida A. Brudnick, Congressional Research Service, February 1, 2012. .Without changes, SSDI will only take in enough revenues to pay 80% of scheduled benefits by 201TSCL believes that suspected fraud is compounding the crisis in the disability program, and that Congress should cut fraud — not benefits of those who are truly in need. TSCL supports measures that would provide stiffer penalties for disability fraud, make eligibility criteria more objective and measurable, and step up reviews to determine whether people currently on the rolls remain entitled to benefits. .Sixty-five percent of people surveyed by The Senior Citizens League support lifting the thresholds that subject Social Security benefits to taxation. The Senior Citizens League is seeking input from the public on this issue. To participate in a survey about Social Security and Medicare, visit .