News

  • Issues Medicare Means Testing Faqs

    The Three Biggest Expenses to Cut In Retirement — Most seniors spend more time clipping coupons to save a few dollars when they do their weekly grocery shopping than they ever spend cutting these three biggies. Spend more time on these and you'll have more money for groceries and everything else. .Low and middle-income earners pay taxes on all of their earnings. In recent years, however, the share of total wages earned in the U.S. and subject to Social Security payroll tax has declined because the earnings of the most highly paid workers have grown rapidly. Most of the proposals to increase the taxable maximum would also raise benefits of the affected workers by counting earnings above the old cap in the benefit formula. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that eliminating the taxable maximum would extend the Social Security solvency as much as 50 years.[1] .As the number and scope of extreme weather events and disasters grow, some homeowners are learning that their insurance coverage doesn't provide all the protection they were expecting it to. According to Consumer Reports, the greater the damage costs, the higher the likelihood that there will be a disagreement over the claim, especially when you have a very large claim of ,000 or more. … Continued

  • Benefit Bulletin March 2012 Advisor

    Most working Americans contribute 6.2 percent of every paycheck to Social Security, but due to the payroll tax cap, people earning more than 7,200 contribute nothing over that amount. Do you support legislation like the newly-introduced Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1902), which would extend the solvency of the program by requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share? .Can expanding Social Security solve the retirement crisis? .I am pleased to tell you that earlier this year I introduced House Resolution 680, which expresses the will of the House of Representatives to protect Medicare for Americans 55 and older and to seek ways to root out waste, fraud, and abuse from the program. With heated rhetoric coming from both parties about the future of Medicare and how to save it, my resolution is an attempt to find common ground – the first step toward protecting seniors and achieving any meaningful reform. … Continued

Congress Averts Shutdown .Recently Congressional Budget Office estimated in its September budget outlook, that Medicare outlays for 2020 would rise about 12 percent — roughly double the rate forecast by the Medicare Trustees in their April 2020 report. This suggests that the Medicare Part B premium increase for 2021 could be about .40 per month higher in 2021, rising from 4.60 to 2.00. But even this estimate does not include the full impact of cost shifting that occurs when people with low Social Security benefits are protected from reductions due to high Medicare Part B premium increases. Thus, the base monthly Part B premium increase for 2020 could be even higher than .40, and closer to the spike seen in 2016. .Coronavirus and the U.S. Drug Supply .Unlike income tax brackets that are adjusted for inflation, the income thresholds that subject Social Security benefits to taxation have never been adjusted since Social Security benefits became taxable in 198When the law was first passed, less than 10 percent of all Social Security recipients were estimated to have incomes high enough to be affected by the tax on benefits. But today, even retirees with very modest incomes can be affected by the tax. .Affordable Care Act – Monitor the continued implementation of the law as it affects older Americans. . Contact your doctor's office and alert them to this dilemma. Ask if they have emergency samples of Lantus and your blood pressure medicine that they can provide, or if they can give you the contact number of programs that can help you. .Alexandria, VA (October 18, 2011) Irene H., a senior living in Central Virginia, will achieve a milestone this fall that few other 86-year olds can boast of. The thrifty senior, who takes three prescription medications every day, including an expensive brand-name eye drop for glaucoma, will cut her prescription drug costs by more than ,000 since 200Her secret? Every year during the fall Medicare Open Enrollment period, Irene learns about the changes in her drug plan for the upcoming year, and then compares all her options for drug coverage. She changes plans when she finds better coverage at a better cost. .There was also a bipartisan proposal from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that gained support in the Senate but it did not include price negotiation, and again, McConnell refused to bring the bill to the floor in an election year. .The coverage offered through the state of Virginia, however, didn't offer the same additional benefits, and would cost Paula a monthly premium of 0 in 200If she chose to "opt out," Paula would not be able to receive Medicare supplemental coverage or drug coverage through her former employer in the future.