News

  • Medicare Pays More For Drugs Than Medicaid

    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." .The reason for this is that infected people send viral particles into the air at a faster rate than the airplanes flush them out of the cabin. "Whenever you cough, talk or breathe, you're sending out droplets," said Qingyan Chen, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. "These droplets are in the cabin all the time." .Canada Bans Sending Drugs to U.S. … Continued

  • Category Legislative News Page 15

    TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 2745, H.R. 3118, and H.R. 1795, and we were pleased to see support grow for each of them this week. .Nineteen percent (19%) have postponed filling one or more prescriptions due to quarantine or emergency orders to stay home. .Initial coverage stage: 4.61 from the lowest-cost drug plan but, as you have discovered, the total cost of the drug is so expensive that you rapidly use up the initial ,820 in the first three months once you factor in the portion that your drug plan pays. … Continued

There seems to be a great disagreement among supporters of Notch reform over who is truly a Notch Victim. What are the facts? .My prescription for Lantus and blood pressure medicine has skyrocketed recently. When I called Humana, they said they are dealing with Covid-19, and costs have increased. The new price is at a level that makes it impossible for me to afford the medicine I need. I don't know what to do now. Any help is appreciated. — Robert N. FL .With over 1 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Located just outside Washington, D.C., its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. .But that's not all Congress must do before October The Secretary of the Treasury has warned that if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling very soon the government will default on its bills sometime in October. The "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government is at stake here and the repercussions of a government default are not totally known but they could be disastrous. .Sources: "Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens," Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2006, RL32004. .If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to prevent and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Among other things, it would enact stronger fraud penalties, curb mistaken payments by the agencies, phase out the ineffective "pay and chase" practice, reduce the theft of physician identities, and improve the sharing of fraud data among states, agencies, and programs. .On Thursday, a group of four Senators – Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Jim DeMint (SC) – unveiled a major new plan to transition Medicare enrollees into the same health care program offered to employees of the federal government, including Members of Congress. According to the group, the plan will "provide Medicare patients with the best health care in America and will forever protect seniors' interests by aligning them with self-interested politicians." .The Inspector General's Office recently surveyed 4 field Social Security field offices along the border with Mexico in California and Texas. Each office provided services to about 1,000 such beneficiaries every month. Personnel say the number is increasing for three reasons: .The Senior Citizens League was disappointed that the President did not comment on Social Security or Medicare during his State of the Union address, but we were pleased that he spoke about the need to reduce prescription drug prices. The President said he was proud to have helped improve "access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs" by speeding up the FDA approvals process last year. That move could increase competition and bring down prices by encouraging generics to enter the market more quickly.