News

  • Medicare Recipients Face Steep Out Of Pocket Medicare Part D Drug Costs In 2021

    TSCL looks forward to working with these veteran lawmakers, along with new Representatives and Senators, on the following issues in the 114th Congress: .Members of Congress returned to their home states and districts this week for a holiday recess that will last for two weeks. Members of the House are expected to return to Washington on Tuesday, April 9th, and Members of the Senate are expected to return on Monday, April 8th. Budget negotiations will likely resume at that time, as President Obama is slated to release his own plan for 2014 on April 8th. .After being suspended since November 2, 2015, the debt cap was reinstated last week. "Although the Treasury secretary is using ‘extraordinary measures' to fund the budget for now, a failure to lift the debt limit in time would affect all Americans, including the timely payment of Social Security benefits," says TSCL Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, Mary Johnson. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner February March 2018

    TSCL believes the drug problem could explode this year. Citing massive "sequester" budget and staff cuts, federal officials are set to scale back or drop investigations into Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse cases. The Department of Health and Human Services may lose a total of 400 staffers and the existing staff is stretched so thin that it was unable to investigate about 1,200 cases of Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse last year. .Despite the coronavirus emergency, TSCL is continuing its fight for you to protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We have had to make some adjustments in the way we carry on our work, but we have not, and will not stop our work on your behalf. .Today's working women, even those who worked in the same positions as men, tend to earn less during their working careers. The Economic Policy Institute reports that to every dollar a man makes, women of Asian descent earn 88 cents, Caucasian women make 81 cents, African American women make 65 cents, and Hispanic women make 59 cents. This only worsens the low lifetime earnings problem. … Continued

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). .Start Now! .Before Obamacare "Glitch," There Was The Notch Glitch .Source: "Audits Of Some Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Pervasive Overcharging," Fred Schulte, Center For Public Integrity," NPR, August 29, 201"Medicare Advantage: Fundamental Improvements Needed in CMS's Effort to Recover Substantial Amounts of Improper Payments, Government Accountability Office, April 2016. .Switching Drug Plans Can Save Big Money — Here's Proof .Now there is a lobbying effort to make sure enough money is provided for those programs because without sufficient funding states could choose not to take the money and leave their Medicaid programs running as is. .We have been reporting recently that unless Congress passes new legislation soon there will be significant cuts in Medicare payments to health care providers, such as doctors and hospitals. If that happens it is quite possible those patients covered by Medicare would likely face negative consequences with regard to their health care. .Emergency 3% COLA, Social Security And Medicare Issues Land on the Congressional Priority List .This week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) revealed that it has been overpaying almost half of all Disability Insurance (DI) enrollees, and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw one key bill gain critical support.