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  • Legislative Update For The Week Ending August 19 2011 Feed

    But not all beneficiaries will come out ahead. Some treatments have little or no competition, and patients needing those drugs might not see any extra savings. And for people who don't take pricey drugs, monthly Part D costs are likely to rise because premiums are expected to go up when insurers won't be able to keep rebates to improve bottom lines. .We are no longer physically able to work, so we're concerned that current Social Security and Medicare benefits and future COLAs will be cut via D.C. shenanigans and slight-of-hand legislation, thus making our financial situation worse. .Notes from Jessie Gibbons, TSCL Legislative Analyst … Continued

  • More Than Four In Ten Seniors Report Lower Social Security Checks

    Click here for more information about our legislative agenda. There you can also sign a petition to your Members of Congress, view bills that have been recently introduced in the House and Senate, and stay updated with the latest news on Capitol Hill. .Housing: (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture) .Direct federally funded community health centers to pass discounts they now get for insulin and EpiPens directly to low-income patients. … Continued

The hearing examined in particular the drug company AbbVie, which makes Humira and Imbruvica, two drugs widely used by seniors. .That represents a huge liability to the Social Security Trust Fund, should there be an amnesty. Every year the SSA processes millions of W2s. When a name or SSN on a W2 doesn't match the SSA's records, the wage report goes into an "Earnings Suspense File" (ESF) until the discrepancy can be reconciled. The ESF file today contains more than 312.7 million wage items representing 5 trillion in wages. Wages are what the Social Security Administration uses to determine entitlement to Social Security, rather than the amount of taxes paid. Immigration reform advocates say that although payroll taxes are withheld from the checks of illegal workers, they have little chance of collecting benefits. .This week, CMS announced that its cuts to the Medicare Advantage program will total 1.9 percent next year, which is significantly lower than most analysts expected. However, the amount has not been finalized yet, and some say that the figure fails to consider all factors that will affect reimbursements. They expect to see a final rate in the range of 4 to 7 percent. .The rule would require drug companies to give Medicare beneficiaries rebates that now go to insurers and PBMs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates it would increase taxpayer costs by 7 billion over 10 years. .Conn received more than .5 million in attorney's fees from the Social Security Administration, making him the third highest paid disability lawyer in the country. Reviews of Dougherty's bank accounts found ,000 in unexplained deposits. Senator Tom Coburn (OK) told 60 Minutes, "If all these people are disabled…I want them all to get it and then we need to figure out how we're going to fund it. But my investigation tells me and my common sense tells me that we got a system that's being gamed pretty big now." .Calculate the annual COLA using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). TSCL studies indicate that using the CPI-E would provide a very modestly - higher COLA in most years. .Is there an information number for the Veterans Administration? .We gave you the bad news about eating fried foods, which really is nothing very new. But there was some hopeful news last week that we want to pass along. ."To lower the expected cost of these new benefits, House Democrats have proposed introducing the new dental benefits starting in 2028, ramping up the coverage over five years."