News

  • Legislative Update For The Week Ending July 8 2011

    According to that study, during a recent five-year period, Medicare spending on hundreds of medicines to treat various neurologic conditions, such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, rose 50%, but the number of claims increased only 8%. ."The president's plan to import policies from socialized health care systems abroad is disrupting our work [on Covid-19 therapies] and diverting our focus away from those life-saving efforts," the spokesperson said. "We remain willing to discuss ways to lower costs for patients at the pharmacy counter. However, we remain steadfastly opposed to policies that would allow foreign governments to set prices for medicines in the United States." .Finally, TSCL announced its support for the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act (S. 64), which was introduced by Senator John McCain (AZ) earlier this week. If adopted, his bill would allow individuals to import their prescription drugs from approved pharmacies in Canada, where they are often a fraction of the price. It would bring much-needed competition to America's prescription drug market, and it would increase access to affordable drugs for all Americans. Chairman Cooper wrote in a letter of support: "TSCL salutes you for introducing legislation that would ensure access to affordable, lifesaving medicines … we lend our enthusiastic support and the support of our membership to the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act." … Continued

  • June 2013 Virtual Strategy Magazine

    The 2100 Act, if signed into law, 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 COLAs 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. . The situation that we all are in is precarious, and that includes the worldwide supply chain for prescription drugs. (More on that in a minute.) You need immediate help and here's a check list of what I suggest you try: .We cannot afford to overlook the financial risks associated both with the U.S.-Mexico totalization agreement and with any immigration plan that includes an amnesty provision at the expense of first securing our borders against additional illegal immigration. … Continued

If more than 12 months have passed, the plan should disenroll your mom, and her Special Enrollment Period should begin at the beginning of the twelfth month and continue through the end of the fourteenth month after the move. .Key Bills Gain New Cosponsors .The number of observation patients has exploded 88 percent over the past six years, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Medicare has tightened rules for hospital admissions, and usually won't pay for admitted patients who should have been designated as observation status. Consequently, hospitals have increased their share of observation patients. But the rule is not the same for people's private insurance like Medicare Advantage. Most Medicare Advantage plans don't require their enrollees to have a three-day hospital admission in order to receive nursing home coverage, according to an analysis by Avalere Health research firm. .Key Social Security Bills Gain Support .By using reconciliation, it would mean there would have to billions of dollars cut from current spending programs, including Medicare. .Social Security benefits are one of the few sources of retirement benefits to be adjusted for inflation. The intention is to protect the buying power of benefits when prices increase. But retirees frequently notice that over time their Social Security benefits don't buy as much as they used to. This happens when the annual COLA doesn't keep pace with the increases in costs typically experienced by older and disabled beneficiaries. .Upon introducing the Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries Act, Sen. Wyden said, "Today's fix will protect over 370,000 Oregonians and millions of seniors across the country from an abrupt and dramatic increase in Medicare costs. It is urgent that Congress take decisive action to ensure vulnerable Americans aren't harmed by this archaic policy." .In January, one-third of all Medicare beneficiaries will see a Part B premium increase of 22 percent – the highest increase in 27 years. Do you believe Congress should take action like it did last year to prevent the dramatic increase? .TSCL supports legislation that would provide a more fair and accurate COLA by basing it on a senior index like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). If seniors received a COLA based on the CPI-E, TSCL estimates that seniors with average benefits of ,200 per month in 2014 would receive ,753 more over a 30-year retirement. By their final year, their benefit would be ,652 per year more than if the CPI-W were used.