News

  • Legislative Update February 2011 Advisor

    The Earnings Suspense File represents a huge growing potential liability to the Social Security program. Currently the file holds more than 295.5 million wage reports worth more than 5 billion. Wages are used to determine entitlement to Social Security benefits. Under current law when a worker is found eligible for Social Security, all earnings that can be proven are used to determine entitlement, even for jobs worked without legal authorization. .Sources: "Issues and Challenges In Measuring And Improving The Quality Of Health Care," The Congressional Budget Office, December 201"What Is Value-Based Healthcare?" NEJM Catalyst, January 1, 201"After Single Payer Failed, Vermont Embarks On A Big Health Care Experiment," Carolyn Johnson, The Washington Post, September 17, 2017. .TSCL is continuing to work hard for any and all legislation that would accomplish those goals. … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending February 8 2013

    Many social and economic factors work against women who are family caregivers and mothers that can lower their Social Security benefits. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) believes that lawmakers can and should be doing more to improve this. .Finally, one new cosponsor – Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) – signed on to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act (S. 99), bringing the cosponsor total up to eight. If adopted, this bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries. .Minimal Workplace Enforcement—A Contributing Factor … Continued

Millicent Graves of Williamsburg, Virginia recently was shocked to discover an astounding price range in the same generic drug after her doctor prescribed a different form of Clobetasol propionate, commonly used to treat psoriasis. When she filled her previous prescription in December of 2014 for the Clobetasol solution, she paid — the full retail cost. But when filling the first prescription for Clobetasol foam in 2015, Graves discovered the retail cost was 5.8And five weeks later when she refilled her prescription for the foam, the cost had jumped dramatically— to 7, making the total difference in price between the solution and foam 1,691%. "When I looked at the receipt I almost passed out," she says. "Everything is the same as the first bottle! It's price gouging," she says. .1977 Changes Fixed An Earlier Flaw In The Benefit Formula .The Medicare Trustees estimated in their April 2020 annual report that the base 2021 Part B premium would rise by .70 (6 percent), from 4.60 to 3.30.[1] The annual report was written prior to the coronavirus national emergency and does not incorporate the effects of the coronavirus caused recession, the interaction with an extremely low COLA. .Sources: "Draft MedPAC Language Calls For Medicare Benefit Redesign," John Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, March 8, 201Medigap Reform: Setting The Context, Kaiser Family Foundation, September 2011. .Read all notices from the Social Security Administration and carefully check the deposit information. If it doesn't agree with your bank account, contact Social Security at once. .Last year, I co-founded the bipartisan House Retirement Security Caucus in order to raise awareness about the importance of properly planning for retirement (and the pitfalls of not doing so). As co-chairman of the caucus, I am committed to making sure the federal government does not make retirement planning more complicated than it should be. Just recently, in response to the Department of Labor's proposed "fiduciary rule" that could restrict Americans' access to financial advice, I voted for the SAVERS Act (H.R. 4294), which would protect such access while also helping to ensure that financial advisors act in the best interest of the retirees and families they serve. .The CARES Act provides employers with incentives to retain workers on the payroll through a tax credit. In addition, employers are allowed to defer the employer portion of payroll taxes for 2020, with the taxes due in two equal installments by December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2022. .Officials working on the plan have not yet settled on many of its details. The Trump administration first proposed the approach in 201Three officials familiar with the matter said it remains under consideration and has not been ruled out, despite Trump's endorsement for the Grassley-Wyden bill. .Congressional Impasse Results in Shut-Down