News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending February 1 2019

    The resolution's authors wrote, "Our plan would strengthen Medicare by offering future seniors guaranteed-coverage options – including traditional Medicare – regardless of pre-existing conditions or health history. All seniors will have the support they need to get the care they deserve." .TSCL Urges Action on Debt Ceiling .Wages were lower than expected and initial retirement benefits for Notch Babies were calculated on lower average earnings. Thus, benefits were lower than anticipated. In addition, inflation grew at double-digit rates over the same period, yet the new benefit formula failed to fully account for inflation for many Notch Babies, especially those who delayed their retirements (5). … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending July 15 2016

    Since the tax brackets and the standard deduction wouldn't grow as fast as in the past, more people will get pushed into higher tax brackets more quickly when their income rises. The legislation would use a more slowly growing measure of inflation, the Chained Consumer Price Index, to make adjustments. .Here's how the coverage gap works. Once individuals and their Medicare Part D plans spend the initial coverage amount (,310 in 2016) on covered prescription drugs in a calendar year, beneficiaries hit the doughnut hole. Once in the doughnut hole, coinsurance on covered drugs is not only higher, one must also pay a substantial amount out-of-pocket to reach the limit for catastrophic coverage. For brand-name drugs in the coverage gap, individuals are responsible for 45% of the cost, and for generic drugs, they're responsible for 58%. Once out-of-pocket costs for those in the doughnut hole total ,850, catastrophic drug coverage takes effect, and Part D plans pay 95% of prescription drug costs until the calendar year ends. ."Let's have some discussion about what the government would actually be measuring," Johnson says. "It would not be direct measurement of the growth in the costs of specific goods and services as is the case under the conventional CPI," she says. "Yet that's what most people think of when we talk about inflation," she says. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the chained CPI measures the amount of additional resources that an individual would need to maintain the same standard of living this year as last year. "That's not the same thing, especially for people dependent on fixed incomes," Johnson notes. … Continued

Senate Committee Discusses SGR Alternatives .Since you were born in 1959, your full retirement age is 66 and 10 months. Starting benefits prior to your full retirement age will lower your monthly payments. If you were to retire at age 62 instead of age 66 and 10 months, a ,000 per month benefit would be permanently reduced to ,416— a reduction of about 29.17%. The longer you delay starting your benefit, the more you will receive. But age 66 and 10 months is NOT your maximum benefit age. Your maximum benefit comes at age 70, no matter when you were born. .There are now efforts for legislation to boost domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. There is a new measure that would require the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to "convene a committee of experts to analyze the impact of U.S. dependence" on foreign medicines and to make recommendations to Congress. There is also an effort to use the fiscal 2021 defense authorization bill to strengthen U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing and advance "make it in America" policies that favor domestic drug-production plants. .Pressure politicians. "Candidates who don't take a stand on Social Security in this important election year choose to put the program's strength at risk in the long-term," AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said in a statement. "Though people of all ages rely on it, its importance to older Americans — already under tremendous pressure from wage stagnation and shrinking pensions — is only likely to grow." .According to the Social Security Handbook, when Social Security decides an overpayment has been made, a written notice will be sent to the overpaid individual or the legal representative (such as guardians or estates), if any. People other than the beneficiary can be liable for overpayments if they are entitled to benefits on the same earnings record, like widows, divorced widows, spouses, divorced spouses, and children. .The reason for this is that infected people send viral particles into the air at a faster rate than the airplanes flush them out of the cabin. "Whenever you cough, talk or breathe, you're sending out droplets," said Qingyan Chen, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. "These droplets are in the cabin all the time." .Can your husband do any other type of work? Even if your husband can't do the work he did in the past, the Social Security Administration will consider if there is other work he could do. .But changes to illegal immigration enforcement can have long-term financial implications for federal benefit programs, including Social Security and Medicare. With work-authorization and valid Social Security numbers, even noncitizens can potentially become entitled to Social Security benefits with enough years of earnings or a change of legal status. At issue is whether work prior to obtaining legal status and valid Social Security numbers would count toward entitlement to Social Security and Medicare benefits — under current law it does. .You should still delay domestic and international travel. If you do travel, you'll still need to follow CDC requirements and recommendations.