News

  • Ask Advisor June 2015

    However, there is and has been an alternative. A bipartisan Senate bill backed by Trump stopped short of giving Medicare bargaining power but would have limited annual price increases and capped costs for older people. The bill passed out of a Senate committee but was never brought to the full body, again because Majority Leader McConnell has refused to do so. .Where Can I Get Help With What Medicare Doesn't Cover? .However, a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center was just released that has its own updated forecast that includes the effects of the pandemic. … Continued

  • Notch Bulletin Notch Reform Has Strong Support In New Congress Feed

    This question is signficant in light of proposals to "reform" Social Security. Several proposals, including "progressive indexing" of the benefit formula, involve changes similar to those that were enacted in 1977 that led to the Notch disparity. When proposals to change the benefit formula are debated, Members of Congress, the media, and the public tend to focus on the anticipated percentage of reduction. The danger of doing this, however, is that the assumptions used at the time often bear little resemblence to what accually occurs. .But according to TSCL studies, Medicare Part B premiums are one of the single fastest - rising senior costs. Data from TSCL's annual survey of senior costs indicate that with next year's Part B increase, premiums will be 168% higher than 2000, rising on average 10.5% per year, even though there was no increase at all over the past two years. Part D premiums have grown roughly 60% since the program started in 2006, averaging about 6% per year. .Health care for seniors is also one of the top issues on our agenda at TSCL and we have been talking to Congressional offices about our concerns. That's why we were happy to see progress this week regarding the issue of surprise medical billing. Surprise billing has been a real problem for some seniors who have Medicare Advantage. It's an issue that TSCL has been discussing with Congress and that we've written about for the last few weeks. … Continued

Obviously we will continue to push for passage of those bills and keep you updated about their progress as things develop. .Congress has spent much of its time over the past two years locked in a rigidly - partisan standoff over the federal budget deficit. But TSCL's new 2012 Senior Survey results suggest that lawmakers may not be paying close enough attention to senior voters — something that may come back to haunt them come November elections. They may be retired but, to seniors, jobs — not benefit cuts — are the key to cutting the federal deficit. .On Thursday, lawmakers in the House began considering legislation (H.R. 1190) to repeal the IPAB, the unelected 15-member board that was created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to manage Medicare's growth. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the bill with a vote of 31-8 two weeks ago, and earlier this week it was approved by the House Rules Committee. .Apply for Extra Help. Extra Help is the Medicare program for low-income seniors that can help with most or all of the cost of your drug plan premium, deductibles and co-pays. You also get valuable coverage in the Part D coverage gap. If you qualify, you would pay between $ for each drug. Apply even if you aren't sure, because the income requirements are not as stringent as those for State Pharmacy assistance programs. .Lawmakers Discuss Drug Costs with President Trump . Lisa Kiplinger, USA TODAY 8:41 a.m. EDT June 27, 2016 .The CARES Act provides employers with incentives to retain workers on the payroll through a tax credit. In addition, employers are allowed to defer the employer portion of payroll taxes for 2020, with the taxes due in two equal installments by December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2022. .In addition, your Social Security benefit is likely to be small anyway. When Social Security calculates the initial benefit, the amount of total earnings would be averaged over a 35-year (420 month) period to determine your average monthly earnings. While you become eligible with a little as ten years of earnings total, the SSA will still average your earnings over the 420-month period. This would produce a low average initial benefit amount. Then the WEP adjustment would reduce your initial benefit formula by scaling back the amount of average monthly earnings that would be credited toward your benefit. .On Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a high-profile hearing on recent developments in the prescription drug market. According to the committee, thirty of the top-selling drugs in the United States experienced price increases of 76 percent between 2010 and 2014 – eight times the general inflation rate.