News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending June 2 2017

    Should seniors with Medigap supplements that provide "first dollar coverage" be required to pay more up-front? Should Medicare continue to pay for services based on medical necessity, or should the government change to a system "based on evidence of the value of services?" Congress may be debating these questions this month when the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) issues its June report to Congress. The idea is to make Medicare beneficiaries "think twice" before scheduling doctor, outpatient services, or hospital stays in order to reduce government spending on Medicare. .A new report has found that millions of senior Americans are missing out on over billion in benefits that help pay for healthcare, prescriptions, food, and utilities. TSCL is concerned that many Notch Babies may be missing out on these benefits that help those with limited income and resources, because they may not realize they are eligible. Many seniors struggle to pay for daily necessities like healthcare, medicine, housing, home energy and food. In addition many of these same older adults have one or more chronic health conditions like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or arthritis resulting in higher healthcare costs and limitations on daily activities. .This study looks at 39 expenditures that are typical for people age 65 and up, comparing the growth in the prices of these goods and services to the growth in the annual COLAs. It includes cost increases in Medicare premiums and out of pocket costs that aren't tracked under the index currently used to calculate the COLA. … Continued

  • Category News Press Releases Page 2

    There is widespread support among older Americans for a benefit boost. TSCL surveys have found that 83% of survey participants think Congress should increase Social Security benefits by about 2% of the average benefit, roughly per month (0) in 202Sixty-two percent of survey participants also favor a more generous annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) by tying the annual inflation adjustment to the Consumer-Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), and 50% favor enacting a guarantee that COLAs would never be lower than 3%. .home care. Concerns have been raised that health plans may not have adequate capacity to handle enrollment of large numbers of dual eligibles en masse in 201In addition, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) has said that only a limited number of health plans have any experience managing benefits for this complex population. .The proposal calls for switching to a more slowly-growing consumer price index (CPI), known as the "chained" CPI, to calculate annual COLAs. Chaining is an apt name for it because that's what it would do to benefits — chain them down. … Continued

We want to emphasize that these are all projections based on the economic situation at the time they were developed. As we have seen in the past year, things can change dramatically and clearly, we still don't know how things will be in the coming months and year with regard to the pandemic. .TSCL Presents 2012 Seniors Advocate Award .Catastrophic coverage stage (if you spend a total of more than ,100 counting all your prescriptions): .15 .According to The Hill, the legislation would, "… completely change the way the U.S. pays for drugs, saving the federal government more than 6 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). .In the midst of all this, a new study by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) found that the drop in average wages in recent years coupled with no cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs), and projections of extremely low COLAs, is reducing the amount retirees can count on in Social Security benefits over their retirement. .On Thursday, a group of four Senators – Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Jim DeMint (SC) – unveiled a major new plan to transition Medicare enrollees into the same health care program offered to employees of the federal government, including Members of Congress. According to the group, the plan will "provide Medicare patients with the best health care in America and will forever protect seniors' interests by aligning them with self-interested politicians." .Last year, prescription drug prices grew by 12% nationwide. A rate that high hasn't occurred since 200What do you believe should be done to manage the growing cost increases of prescription drugs? .This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for three key bills that would strengthen and protect the Social Security and Medicare programs. .In addition, U.S. Customs may be trying to clamp down on prescription drugs being shipped to American consumers from Canadian pharmacies. Although "reimportation" of prescription drugs from abroad continues to be illegal, Customs and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have only intermittently seized shipments of Canadian drugs in the past. Canadian mail order pharmacies and drug-buying programs run by senior advocates reported earlier this year that the number of seizures has more than quadrupled recently.