News

  • Fraud Abuse Costing Medicare

    In July of 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act regarding risk adjustment. Under this rule, the Federal Government is requiring health insurers to provide confidential and detailed medical information about a person. Aside from the fact that this is an invasion of privacy, we must also remember the Federal Government's lack of accountability with health records when over 5 million TRICARE records were stolen from the car of a government contractor this past fall. .Two Bills Gain New Cosponsors .Depending on your income, you may qualify for Medicare Extra Help, which can cover most or all of your prescription drug premium and out-of-pocket costs. Your SHIP counselor may also know of special programs in your state. … Continued

  • Category Legislative News Page 61

    Social Security Benefit Cuts Need to be Stopped .If signed into law, H.R. 973 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – two federal provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. .Too many doctors are prescribing large quantities of narcotics and addictive drugs that may be finding their way onto the streets, or putting patients at risk of addiction. The doctors, in turn, are accepting kickbacks and other "incentives" while billing Medicare for the cost. The following are just three of the examples from a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General: … Continued

When asked what portion of Social Security benefits retirees spent on healthcare here's how survey participants responded: .If he proceeds, Trump would force drug companies to accept lower payments from Medicare for treatments administered in doctors' offices. The rule would apply to certain drugs bought by the "Part B" section of Medicare. .Please, share this video with your friends (use the "Share" button above or copy the URL into an email). .This study looks at 39 expenditures that are typical for people age 65 and up, comparing the growth in the prices of these goods and services to the growth in the annual COLAs. It includes cost increases in Medicare premiums and out of pocket costs that aren't tracked under the index currently used to calculate the COLA. .Sources: "Cost, Logistics Of Obama Immigration Plan Raise Concerns Before Launch," Doug McKelway, Fox News, February 13, 201Testimony of Eileen O'Connor, Esq., Before The Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Government Affairs, February 4, 201"How Changes In Immigration Policy Might Affect The Federal Budget," The Congressional Budget Office, January 2015. .I recently received an email with a link to a "Tax Loophole for Illegals" video claiming that the IRS had paid over billion in Child Tax refunds to illegal immigrants. Is this an Internet rumor? How can our government give away billions to illegals, when they don't pay any taxes? .COLAs Going To Be Flat In 2014 .Terry Newell currently teaches leadership, decision - making, and ethics courses for a variety of organizations. He is the former dean of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was the director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education. .The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation have boosted previous estimates and now say that switching to the chained consumer price index (C-CPI) will cut Social Security and other federal retirement benefits by 8 billion and increase taxes by 2 billion over the next 10 years. The loss to beneficiaries would compound over time and grows deeper each year as illustrated in the following chart. As seniors grow older and more likely to develop costly health conditions, their Social Security benefits would become less adequate to cover rising costs more quickly.