News

  • Issues Notch Track Bills

    By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board .Rick has served the last seven years as a member of the TREA National Board of Directors. First, as Director for 3 years, then elected and served two terms as National President and then two years as Immediate Past National President. Prior to serving on the National Board of Directors from 2009-2014 he served on several National Committees. During his tenure on TREA's Board of Directors, he chaired the Legislative Affairs, Information Technology, Convention, 5-Year Plan, Awards committees, and chaired the Past National Presidents Council. .Last May the House of Representatives passed a second coronavirus-related economic stimulus bill that addressed the on-going economic and medical hardships resulting from the pandemic. The legislation, which passed the House, included over trillion in relief for state and local governments, around 0 billion in hazard pay for essential workers, and billion for coronavirus testing and contact tracing. … Continued

  • S 41 Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act

    What do you think? Should health and drug plans be responsible for removing illegals from Medicare rolls? Take a poll on the TSCL homepage today! .TSCL is not the only organization to warn about the prospect of another extremely low COLA next year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in its latest budget report projected that next year's COLA would be 1.6%. Seniors depend on COLAS to protect the buying power of benefits from rising costs over retirement, which can last as long as 25 or 30 years. But over the past five years, COLAs have been at record lows, averaging only 1.4% after averaging about 4% per year since COLAs became automatic in 1975. .A draft of the order is circulating inside the government and was obtained by Bloomberg News. "It is critical that we reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers for essential medicines, medical countermeasures" to "ensure sufficient and reliable long-term domestic manufacturing" that prevents shortages and supplies to "mobilize our nation's public health industrial base" when needed, says the nine-page draft. … Continued

TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 2745, H.R. 3118, and H.R. 1795, and we were pleased to see support grow for each of them this week. .TSCL is a strong supporter of H.R. 973, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week. .According to a report in Bloomberg Government News, "Centrist Democrats in the House are pushing to shrink their party's health-care wish list to focus more on low-income Americans, a move backed by industry groups including dentists who say a narrower focus is better policy. .For 80 years, Social Security has successfully kept millions of seniors who can no longer work out of poverty, as well as millions of disabled adults and children of deceased or disabled parents. About two-thirds of beneficiaries depend on Social Security for more than half of their income, and around one-third depend on Social Security for almost all of their income. .Be wary of the information from this acquaintance, and any claim that she has obtained the ,000. While it may be a simple misunderstanding, be careful of scams. Make sure your mom knows she should never give out her Social Security number over the phone to anyone or to anyone you meet who says that it's required in order to receive the ,000 settlement. .Alexandria, VSpiking drug prices are taking large numbers of Medicare beneficiaries by surprise according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Sixty-one percent of people with Medicare drug coverage report higher co-pays and co-insurance costs than expected in 2014 according to more than 1,000 survey participants. The reason for the cost spikes may be tough for many beneficiaries to figure out, according to the survey. Sky-high drug prices are commonly associated with brand and newer specialty drugs, but cost spikes are now affecting generics as well. .The research appears to be good news in the desperate effort to arrest the spread of the virus and suggests a way to ease vaccine shortages and get people vaccinated more quickly. .While the other two rulings went against the Trump Administration, this one was a win on a key piece of Trump's health-care agenda at the end of his administration. .This is no rumor — it's a fact. In 2010 the IRS paid illegal immigrants .2 billion in the child tax refunds. The original version of the video you saw, from WTHR TV in Indiana, appears to be based on a report issued over a year ago by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The report says that the number of tax returns filed by illegal immigrants, as well as the amount claimed in Additional Child Tax Credits, has been growing rapidly and warns "the risk of fraud for these types of claims is significant." The video featured a whistleblower tax consultant who says that in many of the returns he has seen, undocumented workers are claiming the tax credit for kids who live in Mexico.