News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending September 22 2017

    TSCL believes the increased use of observation stays is denying Medicare beneficiaries access to medically necessary skilled nursing care. All days spent in a hospital should count toward Medicare's three-day hospital stay requirement. TSCL supports the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act (H.R. 1179) introduced by Representatives Joseph Courtney (CT-2) and Tom Latham (IA-3), and (S. 569) introduced by Senators Sherrod Brown, (OH) and Susan Collins (ME). The legislation would deem time an individual spends under observation status eligible towards satisfying Medicare's three-day requirement. .COLA cuts: Use the "chained" Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Supporters say that the difference would be small, reducing the COLA about .3 tenths of a percentage point per year. But TSCL estimates this "small" change would cost retirees, with average benefits of ,170 in 2011, some ,223 over a 25-year retirement. .At the time of writing this week's update, neither chamber had voted on the omnibus spending bill, but its passage is expected before funding runs out on Tuesday, December 22nd. A vote in the House is scheduled for Friday morning, and lawmakers in the Senate will likely take it up shortly thereafter, potentially as early as Friday afternoon. President Obama signaled his support for the spending package on Wednesday, which means he plans to sign it into law if it is sent to his desk. … Continued

  • Ask The Advisor February 2012

    When no, or a very low, COLA occurs, a provision of law known as "hold harmless" is triggered. Under the provision, when an individual's Social Security COLA is insufficient to cover the increase in the Medicare Part B premium, the Part B premium is adjusted so that one's Social Security benefit isn't reduced from one year to the next. About 70% of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by hold harmless from rising premiums. .The good news is that there was progress last week in moving the needed legislation forward. The Senate passed its own version of H.R.1868, which would postpone the cuts for another nine months. .The 2% COLA will raise the average Social Security benefit (currently ,258) about But the overwhelming majority of Social Security recipients will never see it. Medicare Part B premiums for most people will rise considerably and completely offset the COLA increase, after being held at lower adjusted levels, as required by law, over the past two years when there was no COLA. This provision of law that protects Social Security benefits from reductions is known as the "hold harmless" provision. … Continued

There is a wide difference in what the White House and Democrats want to give states and localities, plus school funding, virus testing, and other issues. The difference between Democrats' .5 trillion aid package and Republicans' trillion appeared unbridgeable. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offer of a compromise .4 trillion. As a result, President Trump on Saturday signed what have been largely referred to in the popular press as four executive orders dealing with the issues that had been under discussion. However, it turns out that is not exactly what happened. ."The vast majority of prescription drugs [in the U.S.] are for generic, and there, the U.S. does pretty well," says Andrew Mulcahy, PhD, a senior policy researcher at RAND and the lead author of the report. "But for brand-name drugs, we pay much higher." .Analysts say that deeper Medicare cuts may be back on the table by the end of the year. One of the most controversial proposals would convert Medicare into a system called "premium support." Under the proposal, the government would allocate a fixed amount of money for Medicare beneficiaries' premiums; and people would then purchase coverage from private health plans that would provide all their care. .But among other things, if consumers can't find the cost of health care, the idea of the free market is impossible. .Elmendorf began his testimony by sharing some grim projections that have recently been developed by the CBO. He stated that the economy will likely grow by only 1.5 percent this year, and that next year, it's expected to increase by only 2.5 percent. He also announced that the unemployment rate will continue to hover around the 9 percent mark until the end of 2012. .The poll, which was conducted in September and October of this year, during the debt limit budget standoff, found that respondents voted higher and more fair COLAs as an even greater priority than "Preventing 20% Social Security Disability Insurance benefit cut" or "increases in Medicare premiums and cost-sharing"— two provisions which were passed in the recent debt deal. .A new fraud scheme designed to target seniors appears almost daily. In many cases, seniors have watched their entire life savings disappear in scams that are specifically designed to target their assets. .This will give them an additional week to try and get something done. If they can't by then, they'll either pass another short-term CR giving them additional time to work until probably Christmas, or they'll give up and go home for Christmas and push everything off to the new Congress and new President in January. .The vast majority of illegal immigrants come to this country for jobs. To obtain one, they need documentation to show an employer. There's a huge underground business in the manufacture and distribution of phony or even stolen Social Security numbers (SSNs). According to media reports, counterfeit SSNs and papers can be purchased on the streets for under ,000.