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  • Speaker Pelosi Wants Legislation To Cut Drug Prices

    Lawmakers End Partial Government Shutdown .With the Senate being so sharply divided, achieving that result is very questionable. .A monthly supply of diabetes drug Lantus Solostar, for example, ranges from a high of 2.00 from the mail - order pharmacy of First Health Part D Value Plus plan to a low of .75 from the network retail pharmacies for SilverScript Choice, a difference of 4.25 per month. … Continued

  • Biden Plan Leaves Out Drug Price Reductions

    Former doughnut hole coverage gap: After spending the initial coverage amount of ,005, you are responsible for 25% co-insurance for both generic and brand name drugs, plus a portion of the pharmacy dispensing fee which is approximately $$Your drug plan pays 75% of the cost of generic drugs and 5% on brand-name drugs. The drug manufacturer provides a 70% discount on brand-name drugs. Your total costs in this stage could run as high as ,345 between the end of the Initial Coverage Period and the Catastrophic stage of coverage begins. Altogether, beneficiaries could be responsible for as much as ,350 in TrOOP, which includes the drug costs paid by the beneficiary and the 70% discount on brand-name drugs provided by the drug manufacturer. Payments made by the drug plan DO NOT count TrOOP costs. .The report found similar price disparities in expensive specialty drugs that treat complicated conditions like cancer. .If a COVID-19 vaccine yields a price of, say, 0 a course, vaccinating the entire population would bring a company over 0 billion, almost all of it profit. … Continued

Finally, locality pay is subject to the approval of the President, and thus subject to politics. In 2019, the average locality pay adjustment was 0.5%. The annual COLA was 2.8%. The calculation has also been challenged by economists and the nonpartisan CBO as not being accurate. What do you think about using locality pay adjustment rates to adjust Social Security? To send a comment or take a poll on this topic visit . .After the hearing TSCL contacted Chairman Larson's office to ask why he hasn't reintroduced his Social Security 2100 bill yet and we look forward to hearing from him about this. We have been urging him to do so for weeks now and we hope he will do it now. .The federal government shutdown that occurred from midnight December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019, was the longest in U.S. history. It was so disruptive that an analysis from Standard and Poor's (S & P) estimated that the shut down cost the U.S. economy .6 billion. While the government shutdown was terrible for all affected, failing to raise the U.S. debt limit, also called the debt ceiling, could make the recent shut down look like a tea party. .We have reported several times in the last few weeks on President Trump's promised 0 drug discount card for seniors. .Telephone scammers are bilking Medicare out of billions of dollars, and bombarding millions of older U.S. consumers with multiple daily automated phone calls for everything from "free" back braces to genetic tests. While Medicare scams have been with us for decades, what's new is the use of automated calling technology, and the massive international scale of the scams. .This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the two-week spring recess. Both chambers are scheduled to be back in session by Tuesday, April 25th. .On Wednesday, Congressmen Elijah Cummings (MD-7) and Peter Welch (VT) met with President Donald Trump to discuss the state of the prescription drug industry. At the meeting, they requested President Trump's support for TSCL-backed legislation called the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (H.R. 242, S. 41), which would require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Currently, Medicare is prohibited from doing so despite the fact that other federal health programs are required to. .House Adjourns for Five-Week Summer Recess .How did the coronavirus affect you? Your answer helps Congress understand the needs of older Americans. Please participate in TSCL's 2020 Senior Cost Survey at /2020-senior-cost-survey.