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  • Best Ways To Save December 2015

    "Social Security Stops Trying To Collect On Old Debts By Seizing Tax Refunds," Marc Fisher, The Washington Post, April 14, 2014. .And it will not feel like a bargain if we get free or cheap vaccines during a pandemic but pay dearly for annual COVID-19 shots thereafter. .Changes are looming for Medicare and Social Security. Make your opinion count. Visit TSCL online at and take our monthly poll. We'll announce the results in upcoming issues of this newsletter. … Continued

  • Medicare And Medicaid Will Pay For Covid Booster Shots

    "In the U.S. arm of the clinical trial, J&J's vaccine was 72% effective, which, in the absence of the mRNA data, ‘one would have said this was an absolutely spectacular result,' Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a separate White House briefing. What is more, the immunization was 85% effective at preventing severe disease and, in the trial, all hospitalizations and deaths occurred among people who got the placebo. None of the vaccinated people diagnosed with Covid-19 got sick enough to need hospital care. .The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and limit drug price increases to the rate of inflation. .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. … Continued

I Thought My Co-pay Would Be Why Did I Have To Pay 3.45? .To learn how you can get involved visit . .House Adjourns for Five-Week Summer Recess .Eight Questions You Should Always Ask Your Doctor .However, if a waiver would have been included in the Covid relief bill Senate rules would have required there that 60 votes in favor of passage would be needed instead of a simple majority of 51. .A study by the Health Care Cost Institute found that people receiving observation and other outpatient services in the hospital paid four times more out-of-pocket than inpatients in 2012— an average of per inpatient versus 9 for outpatients. Under Medicare, outpatients usually have co-payments or co-insurance for each service from doctors, test, prescription drug, and other hospital services. .Social Security recipients will receive the highest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 5 years, effective January 1st. The Social Security Administration recently announced a COLA of 2%. While the boost is critically needed for almost 61.5 million beneficiaries to maintain their purchasing power, the 2% COLA extends a disturbing 8-year pattern of low COLAs that have been far below the 4% average established in the decade prior to 2010 and the Great Recession. .Upon introducing his bill, Congressman Duncan said, "Lower energy prices have pulled down the overall official inflation rate based off of the CPI-W, which measures spending habits of young, urban workers. But seniors don't spend and consume in the same way as working Americans. It's time to finally create an accurate inflation rate just for seniors." .Social Security has a .8 trillion surplus, enough to pay full benefits for 18 years, but income inequality has hurt Social Security's finances by leaving most of the wealthiest Americans' earnings above the cutoff point for the payroll tax which funds it. A Wall Street CEO who makes million per year pays no more in payroll tax than someone earning 8,500. If we had the same level of economic equality we enjoyed in 1983, the retirement trust fund would have another .1 trillion in it today.