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  • The Advisor Volume 16 No 6 August 2011 Part 1

    Medicare recently announced that a big change is coming to Medicare cards. To prevent identity theft and to help protect the program from fraud, Medicare will be dropping Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and issuing new cards starting next year. .TSCL believes that the extreme cost increases are putting Medicare beneficiaries and funding for Part D at risk. "Medicare must be given the authority to negotiate pharmaceutical prices with manufacturers for covered Part D drugs," says Cates. How are rising healthcare costs affecting you? TSCL wants to hear from you, visit . .This program provides benefits, based on earnings and work history, to workers with disabilities who are under full retirement age. Between 1990 and 2013, enrollment increased 112.5%. Of people receiving Social Security benefits, the number of disabled individuals has grown from 3.2 to 6.7 beneficiaries per 100 covered workers, according to the Congressional Research Service. … Continued

  • 2016 Legislative Update August 2016

    Since he was first elected to Congress in 2010, Congressman Mulvaney – a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus – has been vocal about his support for reforming the Social Security and Medicare programs. In a 2011 interview, he told reporters: "We have to end Medicare as we know it. We have to fix it." He has endorsed several proposals that would privatize the Medicare program by adopting a "premium support" model, and on Tuesday, he endorsed plans to increase means-testing within the program. Both of those proposals are opposed by TSCL since they would result in higher out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. .For progress updates or for more information about these and other bills that would strengthen the Social Security program, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website or follow TSCL on Twitter. .With So Much At Stake It's Time to Challenge Elected Lawmakers! … Continued

It would eliminate two waiting periods that approved DI recipients must endure. Under current law, approved DI beneficiaries must wait five months to begin receiving monthly benefits, and two years to begin receiving Medicare coverage. .Advocates who help retirees enroll in these programs say that, even if your income is slightly above the eligibility limits, you might still qualify because certain types of income and assets may not be counted. .The prices that insurers pay for in-network services are typically much lower than the provider list prices. .On Tuesday, TSCL's Legislative Analyst, Jessie Gibbons, attended the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction's first public hearing. The Committee heard testimony from Doug Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). .Two cosponsors – Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-5) and Sen. Dean Heller (NV) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1332, S. 2010) this week, bringing the totals up to 166 in the House and 13 in the Senate. .I'm Entitled to a Pension for Work as a City Cop… .In his opening statement, HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (TN) said: "Our focus today is on what happens to the cost of the drug after it is approved by the FDA. We will examine the path an approved drug takes from the manufacturer to patient, and how this path affects what the patient pays … This is a discussion that affects the well-being of every American family. It is important that we work together to conduct this fact finding in a bipartisan way." .Benefit Bulletin: September 2021 Most Look Forward to Boost; Low-Income Retirees Worry Benefits Could be Trimmed .In short, there are two main obstacles to the "Pelosi" bill to lower drug prices: overcoming objections from House Democratic progressives and getting through the Republican opposition in the Senate.