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  • Social Security Medicare Questions November 2010 Advisor Feed

    People frequently say they are "not ready" to move into a senior living facility, but the thoughtful solo adults who cherish their independence might be convinced that, by making decisions ahead of time when they are still healthy, is how one preserves that autonomy. Waiting until a health crisis could mean winding up where someone else decides she or he needs to be. .TSCL has been concerned that the coronavirus pandemic could accelerate the impending insolvency of the Medicare Trust Fund. With record numbers of Americans out of work, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to fund Medicare spending. At the same time, the number of beneficiaries is rising and, earlier this year, Congress accessed Medicare's reserves to fund COVID-19 relief efforts. .In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (TX-3) said: "Although Social Security now has modern hardware and modern data centers, its employees are still using software that is decades out of date. About 30 percent of these legacy systems still use COBOL code, an ancient programming language that isn't even taught in schools anymore." He explained that maintaining the outdated system is costly, it requires extra training for employees, and it is difficult to update when needed. … Continued

  • H R 1716 Social Security Illegal Immigrants Act

    Second, in October, Congress passed legislation to strengthen Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI) program. Many of the recommendations that TSCL made to the House Ways and Means Committee back in August were signed into law, including provisions that will ramp up fraud prevention and test new work incentives for beneficiaries. Most importantly, the law prevents a 20 percent benefit cut that was scheduled to hit 11 million disabled beneficiaries in December 201A cut of that size would have been truly devastating for enrollees, and TSCL applauds Members of Congress for averting it. .I'm new to Medicare. I didn't realize that Medicare doesn't cover eye or hearing exams like my former insurance at work. My income is pretty low. Where can I go to get these services? .The "Doc Fix" … Continued

A Fifth Coronavirus Relief Bill Unveiled in the House of Representatives .The Senior Citizens League's surveys in 2020 asked about support for currently debated proposals to change Social Security and Medicare benefits. The five top areas of consensus include the following: .Elder abuse affects an estimated 14.1 percent of all non-institutionalized older adults each year, and for every case reported, another twenty-three cases go unnoticed. It is a serious and ongoing problem that Congress must tackle as soon as possible in order to ensure the retirement security of seniors. .As we said above, the devil is in the details. Rather than signing four "executive orders," the only real executive order was the one on housing. The other three actions are marked as "memorandum," which carries less authority. .Although Part D plans are given leeway to vary how they structure their plans here is a breakdown of the standard Medicare Part D plan cost sharing in 2020: .Congressmember Karen Bass is serving her sixth term in Congress. She represents Culver City and parts of Los Angeles. .An abrupt jump in inflation in February and March of this year wiped out a short-lived improvement in the buying power of Social Security benefits in 2020, according to TSCL's latest study on rising senior costs. The study, which compares the growth in the Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA)s with increases in the costs of goods and services typically used by retirees, found that, while consumer prices flatlined in 2020 through January 2021, costs are now sharply increasing. .Most people who spend the night in the hospital would say they have been an inpatient. But over the past six years, rapidly growing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries have learned that they were never admitted as an inpatient — even though they have stayed in a hospital bed, received treatment, diagnostic tests, and drugs. .Although we didn't hear what we had hoped to hear during our visits, at least we know where things stand and what must be done if anything is to be passed regarding lowering drug prices. TSCL will continue pressing Members of Congress to get drug price legislation passed but we will need the help of every TSCL supporter to get on the phone or send an email to your Senators and let them know you want something done this year. You can contact your Members office through our website at , or call toll free (the call will be paid for by The Senior Citizens League) at 844-455-0045.