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  • S 122 Safe Affordable Drugs Canada Act

    The Senior Citizens League's Legislative Liaison Joe Kluck visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday, December 4, 2018. .Under current law, the Medicare program is prohibited from negotiating prices with pharmaceutical companies despite the fact that other federal health programs are required to do so. As a result, older Americans enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices than other American consumers for their prescription drugs. If adopted, this bill would lead to billions of dollars in savings for the Medicare program, and it would immediately reduce prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. .Catastrophic coverage stage (if you spend a total of more than ,100 counting all your prescriptions): .15 … Continued

  • Should Social Security Continue To Pay Benefits Based On Illegal Work

    First, one new cosponsor – Representative Mike Quigley (IL-5) – signed on to the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), bringing the total up to 19If adopted, H.R. 1205 would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. It would ensure that public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. .More than 61 million people, including adults age 65 and older, and younger disabled adults who receive Social Security disability benefits, get their healthcare coverage though Medicare.[3] The Social Security hold harmless provision protects about 70 percent of beneficiaries (almost 43 million beneficiaries) from increases in the Medicare Part B premium that exceed the dollar amount of their COLA. When an individual's Part B premium increases more than the dollar amount of his or her COLA, the Part B premium is reduced to prevent a reduction in net Social Security benefits from one year to the next. .In a recent survey of TSCL's supporters, as many as one-third of respondents said they postponed filling their prescriptions or took less than prescribed due to high costs. They question why Congress hasn't taken action to improve the system and to protect the American public from rising drug costs. … Continued

A new fraud scheme designed to target seniors appears almost daily. In many cases, seniors have watched their entire life savings disappear in scams that are specifically designed to target their assets. .Growing numbers of seniors are working longer, and delaying the start of benefits. According to a TSCL survey conducted early this year, 42 percent of seniors who are still working say they plan to delay the start of benefits until age 66 or thereafter. Those who continue to work, continue to pay Social Security, Medicare and other taxes as well. .TSCL would like to thank Reps. Mike McIntyre (NC-7), G.K. Butterfield (NC-1), and Charles Gonzalez (TX-20) for taking the time to discuss the issues that are most important to our members and supporters. TSCL also met with Jeremy House, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Butterfield, Conrad Risher, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Gonzalez, Tommy Walker, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1), Rebecca Shaw, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Chris Gibson (NY-20), and Nathaniel Ferguson, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-2). .In addition, one new cosponsor – Rep. Jared Nadler (NY-10) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 973) this week, bringing the total up to 15The bill, if signed into law, would repeal two Social Security provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – that unfairly reduce or eliminate the earned Social Security benefits of millions of retired teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL believes the two provisions must be repealed as soon as possible so that public servants receive the retirement security they have earned and deserve. .It is believed that Trump issued the executive orders because a drive to enact major legislation this year stalled in Congress. Although Trump has told Republican senators that lowering prescription prices is 'something you have to do,' many remain reluctant to use federal authority to force drug makers to charge less. .To help you sort things out, TSCL strongly recommends that you get free one-on-one Medicare counseling through your state health insurance assistance program (SHIP). Many of the programs operate through area agencies on aging, local departments of senior services or senior centers. You can also get more information online at www.Medicare.gov or call 1-800-Medicare ( 7). .Now, the government of Canada is banning drug manufacturers and distributors from shipping any Canadian drugs that might be at risk of shortage to the United States. .A bigger portion of Social Security benefits is likely to become taxable for many older taxpayers in coming years, because newly enacted tax law ties the tax brackets and standard deduction to a more slowly - growing consumer price index — the chained Consumer Price Index. "That will mean tax brackets and the standard deduction will rise more slowly and a greater portion of income may be subject to taxation," Johnson says. .To date the government has no comprehensive estimate of the costs of such policies on the Social Security Trust Fund, or the cost of benefits based on illegal work. Nevertheless, Congress is studying a number of changes to Social Security that would cut the benefits of both future and current U.S. senior citizen beneficiaries who worked and paid into Social Security legally.