News

• Retirement Cost People Get Wrong Getting Older Healthcare Costs Climb 189 Four Years One Healthy Individual

  The flurry of activity in Congress has shared the top of the news this week with the continuing Covid-19 crisis and the beginning of the vaccine distribution program. We try not to repeat news here that is available to everyone who gets their news from TV, radio, newspapers or online, but there are two things that occurred in all the activity that are especially important to seniors. .(Washington, DC) –Today's announcement of a 0.3 percent cost - of - living adjustment (COLA) is another major disappointment to the 60 million people who depend on Social Security, says The Senior Citizens League (TSCL.) "The consumer price index (CPI) that the government uses to determine the annual COLA is simply not doing the job of protecting the buying power of older and disabled Americans," says Mary Johnson, TSCL's Social Security policy analyst. .On Thursday, TSCL announced its support for the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1019 and H.R. 3090). Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT) introduced the bill in the Senate, and Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17) introduced the companion in the House. If signed into law, the bill would expand the federal definition of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It would also incorporate elder abuse prevention trainings, screenings, and reporting protocols into all senior service access points that receive federal funding under the bill. … Continued

• Retirement Benefits Could Be Subject To Inaccurate Cpi Information

  Impose new Medicare deductibles and impose new coverage restrictions on Medigap plans: Impose a new 0 deductible for both Medicare Part A and Part B that Medigap plans would be restricted from covering. Would also limit the co-insurance or co-pays that Medigap plans could cover to 50 percent of the next ,000 in Medicare cost-sharing. Currently plans pay most, or all, of the Medicare cost sharing. .Currently, the funding for Social Security and Medicare programs comes from specific taxes for each program that are levied on the income of every working American. Once collected by the Internal Revenue Service, they pay for current beneficiaries. In years prior to the 2008 recession, more money was collected for Social Security and Medicare than was paid out to seniors. The surpluses were directed to their respective trust funds; however, they were never safeguarded and as result the accounts were raided of cash intended to help our seniors and replaced with Government I.O.U.s. .Susan's mother started taking the prescription drug Eliquis last year, that will cost her mother about ,244 out-of-pocket in 2019 for that drug alone (she takes five other generics). Last year, the cost of Eliquis pushed her mom into the Part D doughnut hole where out-of-pocket costs were higher. Rising costs of the drug in 2019 will mean her mom will hit the doughnut hole a month sooner this year. … Continued