News

  • Five Healthcare Reform Changes That Affect Your 2011 Medicare Coverage Feed

    Insurance for Old Age: Are Annuities A Good Idea? .To the contrary, the majority of you who have taken our Senior Cost Survey in June and July — 56% — think we need to invest more in Medicare so that we can respond rapidly and more effectively to the next health crisis. COVID-19 affects us all, and is expected to continue to be a threat for months to come. TSCL believes that investing more in Medicare now pays off in protecting the health, and future, of all its beneficiaries. .This week, Members of Congress returned to their home states and districts for a week-long recess to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, November 28th, to resume the lame-duck session. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner We Have To Do A Better Job On The Cola

    Fixing this problem seems to be more complicated than passing a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has made it known that no Republican Senators will support raising the debt ceiling and without Republican support Democrats will have to resort to a special procedure called "reconciliation" in order to pass it because of the Senate filibuster rule. In the past there has been partisan squabbling over raising the debt ceiling but when it came right down to it both sides ended up voting to raise it. We'll find out very soon whether that will happen this time. .Insurers make major changes in their plans every year, like increasing premiums, co-pays, dropping coverage and even closing plans altogether. But according to a survey conducted by TSCL earlier this year, less than 18 percent of respondents said they switched their Part D or Medicare Advantage health plan for 201Medicare's annual Open Enrollment period starts earlier this year -- on October 15th -- and ends December 7th. Medicare beneficiaries should start the process now to find out what their choices are and how much they could save with a new Part D or Medicare Advantage plan. .This has led National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Ned Sharpless to worry that the trend of patients and physicians postponing essential cancer care will swap the ongoing pandemic for another public health crisis in the form of increased cancer cases and deaths. An NCI analysis estimated, for instance, that pandemic-related delays in breast and colon cancer diagnoses and treatment could lead to 10,000 more deaths over the next decade. "We're very worried about the consequences of … delaying therapy on our patients," Sharpless said. … Continued

Enrolled in Medicare Advantage? ,700 in Benefit Cuts by 2017 Predicted .Five Key Bills Gain Support . Find out which drug store has the lowest cost-sharing before you fill. Your cost sharing can be dramatically higher depending on where and how you fill your prescription (retail versus mail order). Make sure you are using a preferred vs. standard network pharmacy and compare the prices of retail pharmacies with getting a 90-day supply from your drug plan's mail order pharmacy. For example, if you are enrolled in the Wellcare Wellness Rx plan and get your Eliquis from a standard in-network pharmacy, your copay for Eliquis after the 5 deductible would be during the initial coverage phase, and 7.38 in the Part D coverage gap. However, if you get your Eliquis from a preferred in-network pharmacy the co-pay is .00 during the initial coverage phase and 3.36 in the coverage gap. Depending on where you live, and your drug plan's mail order pharmacy, sometimes you may save a little more using mail order. .TSCL agrees with members of the subcommittee and we share their concerns about fraud within the DI program. We feel strongly that the federal government must administer the necessary oversight to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. In the months ahead, we will continue to advocate on Capitol Hill for fraud prevention and for the administrative funding needed to make meaningful progress. .In a statement, Congressman Doggett said: "Despite groundbreaking medical discoveries, we see no breakthrough in affordability for consumers. Drug pricing in America is a tangled mess, a knot that will take more than one cut to pull apart … Sick patients are tired of seeing Congress do nothing about a problem that affects so many." .This week, lawmakers remained in their home states and districts for a week-long spring break. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, March 2In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be hosting town hall meetings, which The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) encourages its supporters to attend. .The Social Security report projected the combined reserves of the Old Age, Survivor and Disability trust funds would be depleted in 2035, resulting in across-the-board benefit cuts of about 21% unless Congress stepped in before then. .I read that the Medicare Part D doughnut hole is closing. What does that mean? I recently started on Lantus insulin, which my drug plan covers, but with the other drugs I take, I expect to hit the doughnut hole with my April refill. ."If Congress adopts the more slowly-growing ?chained? CPI to calculate COLAs, that would cut the growth in average benefits, about ,100 per month today, by about ,742 over a 25-year retirement," states Larry Hyland, Chairman of TSCL. The benefit reductions compound over time, hitting the oldest the hardest. "By the time age 62 retirees with average benefits today reach age 84, their monthly benefits would be about 8 lower than they would receive using the current COLA methodology," Hyland says.