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  • Hold Harmless Study

    In addition, President Obama issued a veto threat earlier this week when he released a Statement of Administration Policy that read: "The Administration is committed to strengthening Medicare for those who depend on it and protection of the public's health. We believe this legislation fails to accomplish these goals." .Both the SSA and AARP say that "fixing" the Notch would be a costly mistake that would drain dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund reserve. In 1992 one popular piece of legislation to provide improved monthly benefits was estimated to cost 0 billion. To counter these concerns, alternative "capped-cost" legislation has been introduced. "The Notch Fairness Act of 2001" would provide those born from 1917 through 1926 their choice of either improved monthly benefits, or a Lump-Sum of ,000 payable over a four-year period. The cost of Lump-Sum legislation is estimated to be billion, or slightly less than .25 billion per year over a four-year period. .TSCL's legislative team is monitoring the tax reform negotiations closely, and we have serious concerns about several provisions that would impact older Americans, including the following five… … Continued

  • Congressional Corner Mediocre For All Rural Healthcares Road Trip To Ruin

    The expert witnesses at the hearing focused their suggestions on improving the marketplace. Edmud Hailsmaier – Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation – said policymakers should change how they see the individual market. He said it should be thought of as two distinct pools which include (1) individuals wishing to be protected against the financial liability of large health expenses, and (2) those who are very sick and have no other insurance options. .We are raising our 6-year-old grandson under permanent court ordered guardianship to age 1However, we are not allowed an additional Social Security benefit for this child unless we adopt him. Seems unfair since we have the same responsibility to support him. This will create a tremendous financial hardship, should my wife or I pass away and lose our benefit. We feel the rules should be changed to include benefits for permanent guardianships. -B.H. ."The last thing struggling Americans need right now is a secret panel designed to slash their earned benefits and further undermine their economic security," House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said in a statement. "I wholeheartedly object to the TRUST Act and will fight against its nefarious inclusion in any upcoming relief package." … Continued

Fraud, waste and abuse are costing taxpayers and seniors an estimated billion a year, but Medicare fails to recover overpayments about 80 percent of the time. The Inspector General recently said that of the 6,287,546 in overpayments identified through the 30-month period ending March 31, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported collecting only ,168,50But it gets even worse. The OIG said that it could not verify that the ,168,502 had been collected as reported because CMS did not have an adequate system for documenting overpayment collections. .Congress was out of session this week because of the Presidents' Day holiday. Nearly all of those up for re-election (all of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate) were back in their home states and districts, most likely meeting with constituents and/or raising money for their campaigns. So although there was not a lot of news coming out of Congress, news was being made by the Trump administration. .This week, Senate Budget Chair Kent Conrad (ND) released his Fiscal Commission Budget Plan, which would overhaul the tax code and make major changes to both Social Security and Medicare. In addition, TSCL saw support grow for the Social Security Fairness Act. .Physicians should use only those tests that have been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, of which there have been about 12 to date, the AMA said. Even then, they should only be used to determine how broadly the virus has moved through the population and for specific information like whether someone can donate convalescent plasma. .What Is Tracked In Determining The COLA? .With it looking increasingly likely that Social Security beneficiaries will receive the highest COLA in seven years —about 3.3% in 2019 — proponents of "chaining" the COLA are likely to try to argue that the COLA under current law overpays recipients. Proponents of using the chained consumer price index to calculate the COLA claim that the chained consumer price index (CPI) is more "accurate" in calculating the COLA because it takes into account how people substitute other items when prices change. .The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) urges its members and supporters to make the most of the August recess by attending town hall meetings. For more information, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town halls in the coming days, call their local offices. .In 2016 your Part B premium would be 1.80 per month if your family income is under 0,000. (If income is higher beneficiaries pay higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.) In addition you will need to decide whether to purchase a Medigap supplement and enroll in a Part D plan for drug coverage, or to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that includes Part D coverage. .The Fair COLA for Seniors Act of 2017 (H.R. 2896) gained two new cosponsors in Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) and Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-01), which brings the total cosponsors up to two. If signed into law, H.R. 2896 would provide a mid-year COLA to Social Security beneficiaries of 3.9% to account for an insufficient increase in 2017, and it would apply the CPI-E to future Social Security COLAs.