News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending June 22 2018

    As we said above, the devil is in the details. Rather than signing four "executive orders," the only real executive order was the one on housing. The other three actions are marked as "memorandum," which carries less authority. .TSCL is non-partisan and we are listening! This is exactly the time when your voice counts the most. Please take time now to participate in TSCL's 2020 Senior Survey. .So far, many accomplishments have made the first session of the 113th Congress a memorable one for TSCL. To read more about our latest efforts, check out our Legislative Updates. … Continued

  • Medicare Part D Will Cost Me More 2

    According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), for a person who retired at age 65 with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25% (6). .A minimal source of supplemental benefits for seniors with extremely low benefits (Supplemental Security Income, or SSI). .Unless something is done, TSCL calculates there may be no COLA for next year. … Continued

On Tuesday, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs released their annual reports on the current and projected financial status of the two programs. As expected, the Trustees found that both programs currently face manageable financial challenges. .Seniors Speak Out: TSCL Delivers Petition Tsunami To Congress .When a Senate vote is tied, the Vice President, who the Constitution designates as the President of the Senate, can cast the tie-breaking vote, which is exactly what happened. .The benefit reduction would be caused by a feature of the Social Security benefit formula that is sensitive to economic recessions and high unemployment. The first step in calculating benefits is to adjust the individual's earnings using the average wage index (AWI) in order to convert the value of past earnings into today's dollars. The AWI is also used to adjust the earnings levels that determine the portion of their average monthly earnings that people are allowed to keep as their benefit. .In June, the Medicare trustees estimated that Part B premiums will rise only .50 in 2019, from 4 to 5.50. However, according to a recent survey conducted by The Senior Citizens League, roughly 25 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are currently paying less than 4 per month due to a special "hold harmless" provision of law. Their Part B premium hikes will be much larger than .50, offsetting a larger portion of the 2019 COLA. .For the last couple of weeks we've also reported on a hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding the prices that drug companies are charging for some of their drugs that are critical for the health of many seniors. .President Trump also said this last weekend that over the next 2 weeks he will pursue an executive order requiring health insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. "We will be pursuing a major executive order" on pre-existing conditions, Trump said during a news conference in N.J. .According to MedPAC, the Medicare fee schedule undervalues the important services that primary care physicians provide. This creates disparities in compensation between the primary care and specialty fields, and it deters medical students from choosing to enter primary care. To address the issue, MedPAC recommended an extension of a primary care bonus program that is set to expire in the near future. However, instead of offering bonus payments for each service that is provided, the Commission suggested that physicians be rewarded on a per beneficiary basis, which will help the Medicare program improve the coordination of care. .Source: The Full Retirement Age is Increasing, Social Security Administration, July 23, 20http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/ageincrease.htm