News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending August 28 2015

    Sources: "Salaries of Members of Congress," Ida A. Brudnick, Congressional Research Service, February 1, 2012. .Medicare investigations returned for every dollar invested in recent years. Let's tell Congress to stop being so "penny wise and pound foolish." Sequester cuts are like writing a blank check for crooks, and have no place in Medicare fraud control programs. Ask your Member of Congress to cosponsor The PRIME Act (H.R. 2305) and (S.1123.) .According to the FDA, "Complementary and Alternative Medicine" encompass a wide array of health care practices, products, and therapies that are distinct from conventional medicine. Examples include botanical and animal-derived extracts, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins, just to name a few. In addition there would be new regulations of medical devices used by alternate medicine practitioners like chiropractors, massage and acupuncture therapists. … Continued

  • S 1904 Social Security 2100 Act

    The Social Security Disability Trust Fund (SSDI) is rapidly closing in on becoming the first of the two Social Security Trust Funds to become fully insolvent. The disability trust fund, which is separate from the one that pays retirement and survivors benefits, is due to have funding problems by 2016. .The bill would limit price increases in drugs covered by Medicare Part D plans to the rate of inflation or drug makers would be forced to pay a penalty in the form of a rebate. "Since Social Security benefits only grow at the rate of inflation, it would help level the playing field if the cost of prescription medications were required to be adjusted in like fashion," Johnson notes. Research on typical retiree costs conducted by Johnson has found that from 2000 to 2019, annual cost – of – living adjustments (COLAs) increased Social Security benefits by 50 percent but spending on prescription drugs grew five times faster — 253 percent — over the same period. .Source: The Federal Government's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook, Government Accountability Office, October 201"Monitoring Medicare+Choice, What Have We Learned?" Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., August, 2004. … Continued

Now that March has arrived, winter is starting to appear in the rearview mirror, large sections of the country will experience unseasonably warm temperatures this week, Covid-19 vaccinations are picking up, and we are all getting tired of living the way we have for the past year. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-4) – signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1391). The total is now up to sixty-two. If signed into law, H.R. 1391 would increase Social Security benefits by 2 percent, cut taxes for over 11 million seniors, increase the minimum benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line, and make cost-of-living adjustments more fair and accurate. It would also take measures to increase the solvency of the trust fund beyond the next seventy-five years, through the year 2100. .This week, after months of discussions, leaders in the majority party revealed legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act. In addition, in a Wednesday meeting with President Donald Trump, two lawmakers proposed a plan to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. .Locate the booklet of information about your drug plan for 2020. Your drug plan is required to send you "Evidence of Coverage" for 2020, a booklet that outlines your plan's coverage for your prescription drugs, and what you pay in general. If you don't have that information from your drug plan, or if you don't see answers to your specific questions, you can call the customer service representative of your drug plan directly, or you may find information about your drug plan online by searching drug plans at www.Medicare.gov. .Now, another warning has been issued that some sanitizers made in both the U.S. and China contain benzene, a chemical known to cause blood cancers such as leukemias. .This week, lawmakers on the House Budget Committee approved a fiscal 2017 budget resolution after weeks of negotiations, and The Senior Citizens League's (TSCL's) Board of Trustees met with several Members of Congress on Capitol Hill to discuss critical Social Security issues. .On Thursday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that beneficiaries will receive a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 201It will be the largest Social Security COLA since 2012, but around 5 million seniors with the lowest Social Security benefits are expected see no net increase in their monthly checks after Medicare Part B premiums are deducted. Those with benefits of around 5 per month or less are expected to see no net increase. .Last week House Appropriations Military Construction-VA Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) pushed a Department of Veterans Affairs official at a hearing to work on a plan to offer coronavirus vaccines to veterans even if they are not eligible for VA health care. .Resource online: StopMedicareFraud.gov