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U S Mexico Totalization Agreement Raises Questions Feed
Where to find premium information. Rather than calling insurance agencies for quotes, first visit the website of your state insurance commission and look for a publication listing all the state-approved Medigap insurers and Medigap plans (A through N) sold in your state. The information includes the insurer's company name, phone number and website address, and more crucially, the current premiums for the plans (A through N). Since all insurers are required to cover the same benefits under specific plans (A through N) then all you need to do is select the plan covering the benefits you are interested in (such as Plan F), then find a good insurer with the lowest premium for the plan you are shopping for. Not all states have all plans. Calls to the insurer are necessary to confirm premium quotes for your zip code. For Part D Plans, or Medicare Advantage plans, use the health and drug plan finder on the Medicare website at www.Medicare.gov. It's important to select those plans by selecting the lowest-costing plan based on the prescriptions you currently take. .Give family recipe or ethnic specialty cooking lessons. As a child I learned how to make Pennsylvania German egg noodles from scratch from my grandmother. These were a highly treasured holiday gifts. My arms still ache remembering how long I had to roll the dough to get those noodles thin enough for my grandmother! Give out an invitation to special grandchildren or friends for lessons in making favorite traditional foods from scratch. .The Senior Citizens League strongly believes allowing the HHS Secretary to negotiate with the drug companies is one important way to reduce the costs of drugs for seniors. We will be continuing our efforts to get Congress to pass legislation that would make this possible. … Continued
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Notch Bulletin Does Your Representative Support Notch Reform Help Us Build Key Support Now
The legislation is called a "CR" - a continuing resolution, which means the government will be funded for a short period of time and for the most part it will be at the same funding levels as in fiscal year 201The CR will last until Nov. 21 at which time one of three things must have happened. Either they will have finally passed all the funding bills needed for the rest of the fiscal year; or they will have passed another CR; or we will have another government shut-down. .The decision is complicated by significant trade offs that can reduce or even eliminate the money you are hoping to receive. Here are some factors that you need to consider. ."TSCL strongly believes that earnings under invalid SSNs should be also be invalid for entitlement to benefits," says Hyland. "Document fraud, identity theft and violation of immigration law should not be rewarded with Social Security benefits, especially as Congress considers cutting Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)," he states. To learn more and find out how much you could lose by COLA cuts, visit http:// /chained-cola-calculator/. To learn more, visit . … Continued
Since people often move when they retire, under locality pay adjustment rates, the area they choose to live in during retirement could significantly impact the amount of Social Security they receive. Would retirees crowd into areas of the country with high locality pay adjustments? .This week, one member of TSCL's Board of Trustees – Legislative Liaison Joe Kluck – visited Capitol Hill to advocate for legislation that would strengthen and improve the Social Security and Medicare programs. The following key issues were discussed in several meetings with Members of Congress and congressional staff this week: .The most widely-discussed proposals to revamp Social Security include raising the eligibility age, making the benefit formula less generous, and reducing the Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Reducing COLAs would impact the lifetime Social Security benefits of all current beneficiaries, as well as affecting future retirees. Under discussion is a proposal that would reduce COLAs by switching to a more slowly-growing, "chained" consumer price index to calculate the annual benefit boost. In fact the new tax law, recently did something similar. Indexing of income tax brackets, the standard deduction, and other parameters of the tax code for inflation was tied to a chained COLA. That means that people will pay higher taxes over time, as the standard deduction becomes less generous, while rising income would tend to push older taxpayers into higher brackets. .As with the start of any new Congress, TSCL is encouraging Senators and Representatives to reintroduce and co-sponsor key legislation for seniors, like the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act, the Notch Fairness Act, the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act, and the Social Security Fairness Act. In addition, with comprehensive Social Security and Medicare reform on the minds of many deficit hawks, TSCL is working diligently to prevent harmful cuts for beneficiaries. .New legislation, called the "National Senior Investor Initiative Act" or "Senior Security Act" (H.R. 1565), was introduced earlier this month with two Democrats and two Republicans as cosponsors. .In the meantime, though, as businesses re-open and we return to a new version of normal, it's important to stay vigilant. .Early Thursday morning, following a seven-hour voting marathon, lawmakers in the Senate passed a budget resolution that includes instructions for four committees – two in the House and two in the Senate – to craft legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The resolution passed with a vote of 51-48, without the support of any Senate Democrats. While casting her vote, Senator Claire McCaskill (MO) – who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – said: "Because there is no replace, I vote no." .My daughter's father-in-law lives with them and he looks really sick. I urged my daughter to take him to the doctor. My daughter tells me that she learned that he doesn't have Medicare Part B. He's 81 years old! After spending hours on the phone, she learned that he will have to pay an extra 0 per month for his Medicare Part B coverage, in addition to the 8.50 for 202Can this be correct? What can she do? .The following Members of Congress, among others, will hold town halls this week: Sen. Michael Crapo (ID), Sen. Jerry Moran (KS), Sen. Mike Lee (UT), Rep. Frank Lucas (OK-3), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), and Rep. Donna Edwards (MD-4).