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  • Best Ways To Save August 2021

    Although Part D plans are given leeway to vary how they structure their plans here is a breakdown of the standard Medicare Part D plan cost sharing in 2020: .Last - don't let all the political spin about Social Security scare you. The program is not going broke. Social Security does face a long-term financial challenge. Even when the Social Security Trust Fund becomes exhausted there would still be sufficient assets from payroll taxes to pay about 75 percent of promised benefits. Although that isn't a fair or acceptable outcome — a far more likely one — Congress will take action to correct the imbalance. .First, four new cosponsors – Representative Darren Soto (FL-9), Representative Grace Napolitano (CA-32), Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), and Representative Grace Meng (NY-6) – signed on to the Nursing Home CARE Act (H.R. 4704), bringing the total up to nineteen. If adopted, the bill would protect Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries by more quickly codifying emergency preparedness rules for nursing home facilities that receive funding from the federal government. … Continued

  • Seniors Shouldnt Have To Wait Endlessly On Medical Equipment

    How is Social Security different from a Ponzi scheme? Interestingly, the Social Security website has a research note comparing the two. Charles Ponzi became infamous in 1920 when he used the money he received from later investors to pay extravagant rates of return to early investors to entice more people to invest in his phony investment scheme. This only works when there's an ever-increasing number of new investors coming into the scheme. Eventually the scheme runs out of new investors and collapses, taking everyone's money with it. .This week, two new cosponsors – Reps. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25) and Joyce Beatty (OH-3) – signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (H.R. 3118), bringing the total up fifty-four. If signed into law, the bill would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous monthly benefits; it would adopt the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), resulting in more accurate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 3118 since it would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. We were pleased to see support grow for it this week. .The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on nursing homes, leading to large numbers of residents and staff becoming become ill or dying. We hope that such catastrophes may help focus attention on long-term problems that plague these facilities. … Continued

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown announced a consumer price index bill for elderly consumers on Wednesday. Under the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act, the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would be amended to use a formula that reflects the spending patterns of seniors. The current index is based on the spending patterns of urban workers. .Prevention of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Eliminating inefficiencies within Social Security and Medicare. .After the drug executives announced they would not meet with the President, he went on Twitter and accused the pharmaceutical industry of running ads that lied about his new executive order. .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. .Elmendorf began his testimony by sharing some grim projections that have recently been developed by the CBO. He stated that the economy will likely grow by only 1.5 percent this year, and that next year, it's expected to increase by only 2.5 percent. He also announced that the unemployment rate will continue to hover around the 9 percent mark until the end of 2012. .Understand what is covered and what isn't. First the good news: You are probably covered in case a meteorite strikes your home. Now the bad: Your coverage probably doesn't protect you from floods or even a sewer back up. You may be underinsured. Insurance industry surveys indicate, for example, that 43% of homeowners believe damage from heavy rain flooding is covered under the standard insurance policy. It isn't. To be protected you must purchase supplemental flood insurance or other types of riders to your homeowners policy. The same may be true of wild fires, mudslides, sink holes and other natural disasters. If you live in a high-risk zone, consider adding flood or other supplemental coverage. .Worst of all, patients don't qualify for Medicare coverage of follow-up nursing home care, because Medicare requires three consecutive days in the hospital as an "inpatient." That leaves the patient and their families on their own to figure out how to pay nursing home bills, or to go without. .We gave you the bad news about eating fried foods, which really is nothing very new. But there was some hopeful news last week that we want to pass along. ."We believe this unannounced policy of increased enforcement is irresponsible," said Representative Gil Gutknecht (MN) in a letter to the FDA and Customs. Gutknecht also said that the seizures violate the will of Congress, which has for three years denied FDA funding for the purpose of preventing reimportation of prescription drugs for personal use.