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  • Issues Medicare Means Testing Faqs Feed

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to alleviate fears of flying during the pandemic at an event with airline and rental car executives."The airplanes have just not been vectors when you see spread of the coronavirus," DeSantis said during a discussion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Aug. 2"The evidence is the evidence. And I think it's something that is safe for people to do." .If you have questions about your coverage, Medicare beneficiaries can get free one-on-one counseling from State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) counselors by contacting your local Area Agency on Aging or senior center. The programs go by different names depending on your location, but SHIP contact info can be found at https://www.shiptacenter.org. .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. … Continued

  • Legislative Update April May 2020

    It turns out that PhRMA "spreads that money around to political campaigns across the country as well as other trade groups like the American Action Network (AAN), a conservative dark money group that launched a million ad campaign to defeat the Democrats' H.R. 3 proposal, which would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs and cap out-of-pocket drug costs at ,000," again, according to the Salon.com report. .According to the Urban Institute, parents who take paid leave one time would see a 3.2 percent cut in their future Social Security benefits, and parents who take paid leave two times would see a benefit cut of around 5.5 percent. Those who take four paid leaves would see permanent Social Security benefit cuts of around 10 percent in retirement. .Get prescriptions from your veterinarian for medications: When your vet prescribes antibiotics or any other drug, don't automatically buy all the pills from the veterinary practice. Ask for a prescription. Often, you can get a cheaper price from your pharmacist instead, so check first. You can get a pet medication discount card from Costco, CVS, Rite-Aide, Walgreen's and Walmart. Compare prices with reputable online companies as well. … Continued

TSCL is hopeful that SSA will add additional options for authentication quickly so that Social Security beneficiaries without cellphones can regain access to their online accounts. Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-3) – Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee – sent a letter to SSA's Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin on Tuesday requesting swift action. He wrote, "I urge you to take a hard look at this new policy and make the changes necessary to ensure that mySocialSecurity has the right balance between security and access." .A new Medicare cost-saving rule that was launched late in 2020 will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures and could potentially raise costs for Medicare recipients. According to an article by Susan Jaffe, of Kaiser Health News, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has for years classified 1,740 surgeries and other services as "so risky" for older adults that Medicare would pay for them only when people were admitted to the hospital as inpatients. But under the new rule, CMS is beginning to phase out that requirement. By the end of 2023, these "inpatient only services" which includes complicated procedures such as heart and brain operations, is scheduled to be gone. .The Social Security Expansion Act (H.R. 1114) gained one new cosponsor in Congressman Donald Payne (NJ-10), bringing the new cosponsor total up to thirty-one. If signed into law, H.R. 1114 would enhance Social Security benefits by basing COLAs on the CPI-E, increasing monthly checks by around per month, improving the Special Minimum Benefit, applying the payroll tax to income above 0,000, and applying a 6.2% tax on investment income for wealthy individuals. .Fixing our dependence on China .Higher long-term costs for Social Security and Medicare: According to the CBO, people approved for work authorization and Social Security numbers, through policies like Obama's executive action, would be eligible to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits on the basis of their work history. Neither program requires citizenship in order to file a claim. While taxes flowing into the program are estimated to boost the programs in the short term, the CBO noted that periods of unauthorized employment count toward eligibility for Social Security if individuals receive authorization to work. According to the CBO,"The ability or inability of a formerly unauthorized worker to apply those employment periods to future benefits would affect federal outlays for the program. In addition… people who previously paid Social Security taxes under a stolen or fake Social Security number might be able to claim benefits in the future…" .Nutritious food through the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP). .The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote for this coming Wednesday on a new CR that will last until Dec. 18, as well. .The Senior Citizens League and the Alliance for Retired Americans endorse my Seniors' Security Act because they know what I do – that our seniors should be enjoying their golden years, not worrying about how they'll pay their bills and stay in their homes. . Paula chose to take the employer-provided Medicare supplement, dental and vision coverage at 6 per month, but "opted out" of the expensive Part D. Instead we found more reasonably priced drug coverage at .90 per month, and covering the prescriptions she currently took with no deductible, using the Medicare Drug Plan Finder at www.medicare.gov.