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  • Six Ways To Avoid Being Overcharged For Your Prescriptions

    What Do We Do Now? My Husband Lost His Job And Our Healthcare Coverage .Click here for more information about our legislative agenda. There you can also sign a petition to your Members of Congress, view bills that have been recently introduced in the House and Senate, and stay updated with the latest news on Capitol Hill. .Another Broken Obamacare Promise – This One Hits Medicare … Continued

  • S 2552 Medicare Advantage Participant Bill Of Rights Act

    Many seniors have been confused by Medicare Advantage plans, because they are aggressively marketed as offering Part D drug coverage, in addition to hospitalization and doctor's insurance. Some seniors have enrolled in the plans thinking they were getting drug coverage only to add to supplemental coverage they already had. .It's not what the government tracks that causes your Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to grow so slowly. It's what the government isn't tracking that's keeping your COLAs so low. It may surprise you, as it did us at TSCL, to recently learn that COLAs are calculated using methodology that doesn't directly measure what you pay out-of-pocket for health insurance premiums. Add to that the fact that the consumer price index (CPI) the government uses to calculate COLAs (CPI-W) represents the spending habits of younger urban wage earners and clerical workers — or the spending habits of only 29% of the U.S. population. That's certainly not going to reflect the inflation experienced by most Social Security recipients. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill and those in the House passed legislation that will reduce prescription drug costs at pharmacies. In addition, the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee met to discuss information technology within the Social Security program, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw two key bills gain support. … Continued

Potential amendments to the bill were discussed at the hearing, and at this point in the process it seems that measures to strengthen border security and enhance Congressional oversight will be put forth. One committee member, Sen. Al Franken (MN), stated: "I and other Senators will do everything we can to amend this bill." Members of the Gang of Eight, on the other hand, have said they will band together to defeat any amendments that would weaken it. .House Debates IPAB Repeal Bill .I know from meeting with friends and neighbors across my district that Americans are ready for the truth. They are ready for solutions. And they are ready for leadership. We must not be afraid to speak – and act – boldly on their behalf. .The Neal bill was passed by the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday of this week. It would ban surprise billing using an arbitration process favored by hospitals and specialty physician groups but opposed by insurers, employers and labor unions. Neal's legislation would send all the disputes that can't be settled between the parties to arbitration but require mediators to consider median contracted rates used by health plans, with the mediators prohibited from considering "usual and customary charges," also known as "billed charges." .The trillion Senate Republican stimulus proposal comes with a measure that could curb federal spending in the future by reducing costs tied to Social Security, Medicare, and highway trust funds. .The average retired worker receives just ,500 year in Social Security benefits. .In a statement that was released on Thursday, Mary Johnson – Policy Analyst for The Senior Citizens League – said: "The bottom line is that Medicare Part B premiums rise several times faster than COLAs, and those premiums are now high enough to cause the net Social Security benefits of millions of people to remain flat for years at a time … This would make the fourth year in a row that this particular group has not seen a boost in their net Social Security benefits." .By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board .For information about town hall meetings near you in the days ahead, call the local offices of your elected officials. You can find contact information for your Members of Congress right here.