News

  • Specialty Drugs Under Medicare Part D Nearly Two Times Higher Than Under Medicaid

    If you've received a medical bill for services that you thought were covered by your health insurance you already know what surprise medical billing is. But as a reminder, "Surprise medical billing" is a term commonly used to describe charges received by someone who has health insurance but they received care from a health care provider who is not included in their insurance coverage. This situation could arise in an emergency when the patient has no ability to select the emergency room, treating physicians, or ambulance providers. Surprise medical bills might also happen when a patient receives planned care from an in-network provider (often, a hospital or ambulatory care facility), but other treating providers brought in to participate in the patient's care are not in the same network. This can end up costing patients thousands of dollars they thought their insurance would pay. .TSCL opposes any plan to hastily repeal our nation's health law without an acceptable replacement that ensures affordable quality coverage in place. We urge you to contact your Members of Congress and let them know that an Obamacare repeal that puts your family's access to healthcare into question is unacceptable. .The following Members of Congress, among many others, will be holding town hall meetings this week: Sen. Michael Crapo (ID), Sen. Jerry Moran (KS), Rep. John Ratcliffe (TX-4), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-1), Rep. Tom Cole (OK-4), Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6), Rep. Tom Graves (GA-14), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-1), Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4), Rep. Susan Brooks (IN-5), and Rep. Robert Pittenger (NC-9). … Continued

  • No Cola In 2011 Feed

    TSCL supports allowing any veteran to get the Covid vaccine at the VA and we will keep an eye on the progress of this effort. .If all this sounds complicated — it is. But comparing these costs is well worth the effort. Depending on what you have now, Medicare may wind up saving you a considerable sum, and provide lower deductibles than what you get through your employer. This decision is important to get right, especially if you are married and your spouse is also getting health insurance through your employer's plan. If so, caution is advised because your decision affects your spouse's coverage. .Back in April the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their reports with projections of the financial outlook of the programs. Those annual reports give the official government projections for the programs. It is important to note that the projections were made prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore did not include the effects the pandemic has had on the economy and ultimately on the two programs. … Continued

Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) have languished at exceptionally low levels in recent years. Administration officials and economists point to the sluggish economy and recent economic recession as the reason. But government tinkering with the consumer price index (CPI) is playing an enormous role in reducing the measured rate of inflation, in turn cutting the growth in Social Security benefits. .To learn more about the WEP, download the Social Security Administration Publication No. 05-10045 here — https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf. .Upon introducing his bill, Congressman Duncan said, "Lower energy prices have pulled down the overall official inflation rate based off of the CPI-W, which measures spending habits of young, urban workers. But seniors don't spend and consume in the same way as working Americans. It's time to finally create an accurate inflation rate just for seniors." .First, the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (S. 521, H.R. 141) gained eight new cosponsors in the Senate and the House, bringing the cosponsor totals up to thirty and 165, respectively. The new cosponsors are: Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Representative Sean Casten (IL-6), Representative Susan Davis (CA-53), Representative Elaine Luria (VA-2), Representative Colin Allred (TX-32), Representative Ed Case (HI-1), and Representative Filemon Vela (TX-34). .Comprehensive Social Security Reform .TSCL surveys have found that the overwhelming majority of seniors feel Social Security benefits should not be based on illegal work, regardless of whether taxes were withheld. With major changes looming for Social Security, TSCL supports legislation that would ban the payment of benefits based on illegal work — H.R. 787, "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act," introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), and S.95, legislation to prevent Social Security credit from being earned without legal status introduced by Senator David Vitter (LA). .The orders were issued on a Friday which left little time for analysts to review them and comment prior to the weekend. However, since then we have learned new information, we want to share with you. .The four stated that their proposal – The Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act – would "provide Medicare patients with the best healthcare in America," and that it would "forever protect seniors' interests by aligning them with self-interested politicians." But the plan is risky for two key reasons. First, it would eliminate Medicare completely, and second, it would do so beginning in 2014, affecting even current beneficiaries. Other proposals, including the plan released by House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (WI-1) in his fiscal 2013 budget, would offer traditional fee-for-service Medicare as an option to seniors, and would delay implementation to protect current enrollees from any drastic or sudden changes. In addition to phasing out traditional Medicare, The Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act would gradually increase the eligibility age to seventy, and it would increase means-testing measures so that wealthier seniors would pay a greater percentage of their healthcare costs. .In a statement that was released shortly thereafter, White House spokesperson Brandi Hoffine said, "Today, two judges of the 5th Circuit chose to misinterpret the facts and the law in denying the government's request for a stay. As the powerful dissent from Judge Higginson recognizes, President Obama's immigration executive actions are fully consistent with the law."