News
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Legislative Update Week Ending April 27 2018
Whenever possible, share your views with your elected officials. It is important that they are made aware of how their constituents feel. Remember, you are the one who has control over their job security. You could either call or write your Members of Congress. You can find your member of Congress, as well as their address and phone number, through the Guide to Contacting Congress feature on the Home page of this web site. .First, in the spring, Members of Congress passed legislation to repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR) – a flawed formula that set payment rates for doctors who treated Medicare patients. Because of the quirks in the law, doctors were faced with double-digit cuts year after year. Some stopped seeing new Medicare patients, and some even stopped participating in Medicare altogether. TSCL advocated for the SGR's repeal for more than a decade, and we were ecstatic to see it replaced once and for all last April. The law took effect immediately and, in the coming years, it will bring increased stability to the Medicare program for both patients and their doctors. .You will want to sign up for both Part A (hospital insurance) and Medicare Part B (doctor's and outpatient insurance.) Medicare Part A usually does not cost anything since the Medicare payroll taxes withheld from workers' paychecks pay for Part A. Currently the base premium for Medicare Part B (for individuals with incomes less than ,000) is 5.50 per month. Medicare will send you a bill for three months at a time. You will need 6.50 for that first bill, and please note how quickly you must send it back (usually before the end of the month you received your bill.) There are several ways to pay. If you would prefer monthly billing, you may request that, but after you send in your first payment. Carefully read the information on your monthly bill to learn what you will need to do in order to request monthly billing. … Continued
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2014 Legislative Update For Week Ending February 21 2014
Last year, my office received reports of people coming up to the doors of our elders, posing as census takers or COVID testers, and requesting sensitive information like Social Security numbers and other forms of identification -- something that real census takers or health workers would never do. ."Reducing the cost of prescription drugs is essential for both Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare's finances," says Mary Johnson, a Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The average monthly Social Security retiree benefit is just ,552, while spending on prescription drugs is the fastest growing cost that most retirees face in retirement," she says. Over time, drug costs take a growing portion of Social Security income, because prices are rising several times faster than annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs). .In October, the Social Security Administration announced that benefits will increase by 2.8 percent in January 2019, but approximately 2 million seniors with the lowest Social Security benefits will not see any net increase in their monthly checks after Medicare Part B premiums are automatically deducted. It will be the fourth year in a row that this group will not see a boost in net benefits due to Part B premiums, which are rising several times faster than Social Security COLAs. … Continued
The House of Representatives did pass the needed legislation last week so now it moves to the Senate, where passage is not certain. That's because the Senate is equally divided 50-50 and no Republicans said they would support President Biden's Covid relief bill, which resulted in a 50-50 vote on the legislation. .The information you do get can seem contradictory. The one piece of advice almost all retirement advisors do agree on is this — starting Social Security at 62 is a bad idea unless you are terminally ill with only a few more years to live. Your benefits will be permanently reduced up to 30% depending on your full retirement age, and if you are working, your benefits could be reduced due to earnings restriction rules. .The Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act — Congressman John Garamendi (CA-3) introduced the bipartisan CPI-E Act in the 115th Congress, and in TSCL's December meeting with his office, he committed to re-introducing the bill once again in 201If adopted, his bill would enhance Social Security benefits by basing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on an inflation index specifically for seniors. Under current law, COLAs are based on the way young, urban workers spend their money. .This past week, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (NY-8) and Richard Neal (MA-2) signed on to H.R. 1332, the Social Security Fairness Act. The total is now at 14Sen. Tom Udall (NM) signed on to S. 2010, the Social Security Fairness Act, bringing the total to two. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD-7) – signed on to the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), bringing the bill's total up to twenty-five. If signed into law, the CPI-E Act would base the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) upon the spending patterns of seniors. Currently, it is based upon the way that young, urban workers spend their money – a method that underestimates the spending inflation that seniors experience. A study conducted by TSCL this year found that seniors have lost 31 percent of their purchasing power since 2000 – a clear sign that the current COLA is growing too slowly. .Since people often move when they retire, under locality pay adjustment rates, the area they choose to live in during retirement could significantly impact the amount of Social Security they receive. Would retirees crowd into areas of the country with high locality pay adjustments? .The Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act (S. 64), also introduced by Senators Grassley and Klobuchar, would prohibit anti-competitive pay-for-delay deals that keep much cheaper generic and biosimilar medicines off the market. .Sources: "Humana Inc. Overcharged Medicare Nearly 0 Million, Federal Audit Finds," Fred Schulte, NPR, April 20, 202"Insurers Running Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions As Feds Struggle to Stop It," Fred Schulte and Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News, July 16, 201"Reducing Medicare Advantage Overpayments," Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, February, 23, 2021. .This week, The Senior Citizens League released its final estimate for the 2019 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and four key bills gained support in Congress.
