News
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Will Medicare Soon Include Dental Coverage And More
At the same time, new claims for Social Security benefits are growing, as many older workers who have lost jobs file for Social Security benefits earlier than planned. The combined impact increases pressure on Social Security to address solvency issues. A future solvency option supported by more than 72 percent of The Senior Citizens League's survey participants is to apply the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings, instead of just the first 7,700 in wages. The survey was conducted from mid - January through April of this year. .The main bill in the Senate regarding prescription drug prices is one that is authored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). After Trump issued his executive orders, Sen. Grassley said he plans to use the time until the executive orders go into effect to build support for his own prescription drug package which, as we said above, has stalled in the Senate. .Repurpose "heirlooms in time." If you have boxes of "almost antiques" hidden away in antiques or basements pick out a few to repurpose for a second time around. Restring those old broken beads, cut apart shrunken felted sweaters and sew into new tote bags for the market. Drill holes in into old loose-leaf tea cans and plant some thyme, rosemary or a small parsley plant for a sunny windowsill. A great place to get inspiration is www.Pintrest.com. … Continued
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Legislative Update May 2009 Advisor
TSCL agrees with members of the subcommittee and we share their concerns about fraud within the DI program. We feel strongly that the federal government must administer the necessary oversight to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. In the months ahead, we will continue to advocate on Capitol Hill for fraud prevention and for the administrative funding needed to make meaningful progress. .Nursing homes not being checked .Local Lion's Club. Local chapters may have programs to assist people with severe vision impairment, and some clubs run the Affordable Hearing Aid Project, which distributes three types of affordable hearing aids. To find contact details for your local chapter, visit: Lions Club Directory. … Continued
Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. .If you take one or more prescriptions, you may be shocked to learn how much you can save by comparing plans based on the prescriptions you use and switching drug plans, when you find a better match. This is an important financial habit to get into EVERY year. Drug plans routinely raise premiums and co-pays, and invariably what your best choice was in 2006 no longer holds true today. Although everyone's savings experience will be different based on the particular prescriptions they take, consider these cases from my files**: .Social Security Notch Reform – Working towards benefit equality for older Americans. .Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI) introduced S. 960 on April 15, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Finance. .The Notch Fairness Act In House And Senate .Meanwhile, Republicans argued that Medicare should not be expanded when its hospital fund is already slated to be insolvent in 2026. .The reserves held in the Social Security Trust Fund are special non-marketable bonds, or I.O.Us — money that the U.S. Treasury owes to the Social Security Trust Fund for revenues borrowed during years since the late 1980's when more payroll taxes were received than needed to pay benefits. "The federal government used those excess funds received in the past for other spending and replaced the funds with I.O.Us," Johnson explains. Since 2010 however, more has been paid out in benefits than revenues received. The reserves held by the Trust Fund are not actual cash revenues but bonds, so the funds that those I.O.U.s represent must be borrowed. Medicare benefits must also be provided for, which has led to major budget clashes in Congress in recent years. .Few diseases or conditions can be treated quickly, so be suspicious of any therapy claimed as a "quick fix." .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.
