News

  • Ask The Advisor May 2014

    Medicaid is a federal and state healthcare program for low - income people. By law, the federal government pays no less than 50% of the costs, and states pay the balance. For the poorest states, the federal portion can be as high as 73%. .Every other developed country has evolved schemes to set or negotiate prices, while balancing cost, efficacy and social good. The United States instead has let business calculations drive drug price tags, forcing us to accept and absorb ever higher costs. That feels particularly galling for treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, whose development and production is being subsidized and incentivized with billions in federal investment. .Access to Medicare and Medicaid including community-based long-term care support and services and programs that make Medicare more affordable. … Continued

  • Does The Social Security Cola Overpay Seniors Deficit Cutters Say Colas Need A Trim Feed

    Second, one new cosponsor also signed on to the Social Security Administration Fairness Act (H.R. 6251), bringing the total up to thirty-five. The new cosponsor is Representative Ron Kind (WI-3). If adopted, H.R. 6251 would improve the administrative funding of the Social Security Administration, implement a moratorium on field office closures, and eliminate two waiting periods for Disability Insurance beneficiaries. ."In the U.S. arm of the clinical trial, J&J's vaccine was 72% effective, which, in the absence of the mRNA data, ‘one would have said this was an absolutely spectacular result,' Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a separate White House briefing. What is more, the immunization was 85% effective at preventing severe disease and, in the trial, all hospitalizations and deaths occurred among people who got the placebo. None of the vaccinated people diagnosed with Covid-19 got sick enough to need hospital care. .The Congressional Budget Office estimates that H.R. 3, Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, prescription drug price negotiation legislation which is under debate in the House could lower government spending on Part D by 6 billion over a ten year period, but cautioned the estimates are uncertain, especially if price negotiations are implemented differently that the CBO's interpretation. … Continued

One of the uncertain Democrats is Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. His state is home to many big-name pharmaceutical companies and he voted against a measure to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices in the Senate Finance Committee in 2019. .Nutritious food through the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP). ."Switching to the chained CPI would have a long-term impact on the ability of Social Security COLAs to prevent an erosion in the buying power of benefits," states TSCL Social Security policy analyst Mary Johnson. "The index, known as the Chained Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (C-CPI-U), would reduce benefits by roughly 7 percent over a 30 - year retirement," Johnson stated in an analysis prepared for TSCL. .Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated earlier this week, "What I hope to be able to do is keep the government open, to avoid a government shutdown, to do no harm, and to be as boring as possible." The House planned to vote on a package that would simply extend current funding levels through mid-December on Thursday, and the Senate was set on taking it up next week. .Here's how we got here: The hold harmless provision was triggered nationally in 2016 when the Social Security Administration announced that there would be no COLA payable, due to a drop in inflation. Barbara's Medicare Part B premium stayed the same as it was the year before, at 4.90, even though Medicare Part B premiums in 2016 jumped to 1.80 for about 30% of beneficiaries, such as new enrollees who were not protected by the hold harmless provision. .The House recently passed legislation the FAIR Act (H.R. 1423, S.610) that would prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements in employment, consumer, and other contracts. Legal advocates who work on behalf of older adults estimate that as many as 90% of large nursing homes in the U.S. use arbitration agreements in their admission contracts. The federal government has been considering plans to expand the use of mandatory arbitration clauses to be included in contracts for every long - term care facility that accepts federal money as a condition of admission. Nursing homes receive funding from both Medicaid and Medicare for all residents. .The Senate has been back in session for a few weeks and has held votes on some legislation but what we at TSCL are watching is what's been happening in both the Senate and House committees that deal with legislation of major concern to seniors. .A husband's death can mean enormous financial hardship for women. Under current law it generally means a big drop in Social Security income, going from two Social Security payments each month to just one. When the husband passes away, the widow gets a benefit that's 100% the amount the deceased spouse was entitled to, if higher than her own retirement benefit. For example, if the couple received a combined benefit of ,400 per month, and the husband's benefit is ,600, then the widow would just get the ,600 and lose her own 0 per month in benefits. .There's an old saying: "Laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made."