News

  • Congressional Corner Lets Reduce Barriers Long Term Care

    The Senate was not in session and is scheduled to return on January 25th. .Reducing Medicare costs remains a top piece of unfinished business for TSCL. While Congress was successful in restraining a double-digit Medicare Part B increase in 2021, capping the increase at .90 per month rather than .60 more per month — I was particularly troubled to learn that .00 of the .90 Part B increase is a "repayment" charge. While TSCL congratulates Congress for passing legislation to hold the monthly Part B increase down, at least temporarily, the Part B increase wasn't "forgiven". The balance that won't be paid in 2021 will be recovered through a .00 per month repayment which will be tacked onto future Part B increases. That could take years. .As of yet the White House has not put out President Biden's plans for drug pricing legislation, or how strongly they will push for it. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Retirement Age

    Lawmakers Work to Avoid Government Shutdown .The foam has been more effective in clearing most of Graves' symptoms and her Medicare Part D plan has paid for most of the cost of the "golden foam" so far. But Graves is keeping use of the medicine to a minimum, not only for health reasons, but because she doesn't want to run through her Part D initial coverage limit and hit the doughnut hole. .Not thoroughly reviewing the contracts. Make sure you understand what your fees cover and understand built - in price "escalators." For example, cost-of-living adjustments have only increased Social Security benefits by an average of 1.1% over the past 8 years, but rental units may come with automatic price escalators of 5% per year. Facilities often have charges for room and board and separate fees for care. In addition to care fees, there may be medical supplies, medication delivery, laundry and other fees. It's a good idea to have an attorney review the contracts with you. … Continued

Can your husband do any other type of work? Even if your husband can't do the work he did in the past, the Social Security Administration will consider if there is other work he could do. .[1] Social Security Policy Options, Congressional Budget Office, July 2010, page 18. .The Medicare Hotline number is The number to report Medicare fraud is You may also wish to look at their web site. www.hcfa.gov .This tax hike will disproportionally hit America's oldest and most vulnerable populations. Seniors make up more than half of those claiming the medical expense deduction. .However, others at Tuesday's hearing focused on the skyrocketing prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Ron Wyden (OR) said, "The fact is, seniors are getting pounded by drug costs. And in my view, there is an enormous amount of work that has to be done to guarantee that seniors have affordable access to the medications they need." .When my husband and I were planning the timing on our Social Security benefits, our financial advisor suggested that we could maximize our payout if I started with a spousal benefit based on my husband's account, while letting my own retirement benefit grow. I continued to work and started the spousal benefit at age 66, my full retirement age. Now I am 70, but have not received any notice from Social Security about my own retirement benefit. Does this mean I won't get anything higher than I already receive? .The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote for this coming Wednesday on a new CR that will last until Dec. 18, as well. .New Social Security COLA Legislation Introduced .Now that Congress has passed President Biden's Covid-19 relief bill it must turn its attention immediately to passing legislation to delay billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare.