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  • Past Cola Changes Costing Seniors Thousands In Social Security Annually

    Other Legislation Also Targets Scams and Fraud Against Seniors .There is no simple, direct mechanism for regulators or legislators to control pricing. Our laws, in fact, favor business: Medicare is not allowed to engage in price negotiations for medicines covered by its Part D drug plan. The Food and Drug Administration, which will have to approve the manufacturer's vaccine for use as "safe and effective," is not allowed to consider proposed cost. The panels that recommend approval of new drugs generally have no idea how they will be priced. .There is one trend that of particular concern for all consumers. "There's a relentless march upward in the cost of foods, especially sources of protein, (meats, poultry, seafood), dairy, as well as fruits and vegetables, Johnson says. Some categories of food prices especially for fresh fruits and vegetables have climbed in recent years due to widespread damage from severe weather and wild fires. "COVID-19 simply added another layer of disaster cost due to loss of restaurant and school lunch markets, labor shortages for growing, harvesting and food processing, and transportation disruptions," Johnson says. "This is the year to plant a vegetable garden," Johnson says. … Continued

  • Tag Social Security Cola

    Shopping For a Better Drug Plan NOW Can Put More Money in Your 2020 Budget .TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 1029, H.R. 3118, and H.R. 1795, and we were pleased to see support grow for each of them this week. .At the hearing, the Ranking Member of the Committee – Senator Bob Casey (PA) – presented a bill he introduced called the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act. If adopted, his bill would simplify the Medicare enrollment process and help those nearing eligibility avoid costly penalties for late enrollment. … Continued

TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 2745, H.R. 3118, and H.R. 1795, and we were pleased to see support grow for each of them this week. .While the President may have the power to postpone the collection of taxes, he does not have the power to forgive those taxes. Business leaders led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently said the executive order is "unworkable" because employers are still required by law to withhold and remit payroll taxes. President Trump has said that "If I'm victorious on November 3, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax." .TSCL has been working with Rep. Larson the past few years to expand Social Security benefits, strengthen the Social Security Trust Fund and correct the flaw in the way annual COLAs are determined. We look forward to his reintroduction of the Social Security COVID-19 Correction and Equity Act. .Each year SSA receives hundreds of millions of employer reported W2s. When Social Security receives a name or SSN on a W-2 that does not match SSA's records, the wage report goes into the ESF while the SSA attempts to reconcile the discrepancy. In recent years the file has been growing at an unprecedented pace—the fastest since the inception of Social Security in 1937. .Congress this week was sort of the entire U.S. in miniature form. The Senate came back to town to conduct business, but not all Senators agreed with that. Most Senators followed the rules for wearing face masks, but not all. Not all committee hearings were attended by all the members. Most Senators were careful about following the protocols that have been recommended by health care professionals, but not all. .Finally, two new cosponsors signed on to the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act (H.R. 2305) this week, bringing the total up to sixty-five. The new cosponsors are Reps. Tom Cotton (AR-4) and Matt Cartwright (PA-17). If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to comprehensively prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within Medicare and Medicaid – a problem that TSCL believes must be addressed in order to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. .Social Security's combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds will be fully funded until 203At that point, if nothing is done by Congress, Social Security will still have the funds to pay out 79 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues. The Trustees also estimated that Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will be fully funded until 2026, at which point the program will still be able to pay out 88 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues. .I Thought My Co-pay Would Be Why Did I Have To Pay 3.45? .High Cost of Illegal Work for Social Security Trust Fund