News

  • The Government Stays Open For Now But The Debt Ceiling Looms

    Essential Drugs Need to be made in the U.S. .The Congressional Budget Office recently issued a report stating that the federal budget will hit the debt limit and run out of cash early to mid-October. Some Congressional leaders have said they would like to vote on the budget and upcoming debt limit negotiations prior to the August recess. TSCL is fighting the proposal through national efforts from grass roots activists. To learn more, visit . .Federal prosecutors recently announced the biggest-ever one-day takedown of a phony Medicare billing scheme. One hundred seven people were charged, including doctors and nurses in seven U.S. cities, with taking part in a scheme to steal 2 million from Medicare. About the same time, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services reported that federal investigators have uncovered questionable billings at 2,600 drugstores nationwide. A pharmacy in Kansas billed Medicare for more than 1,000 prescriptions each for just two patients. Medicare paid .6 billion to the drugstores whose billings are now being questioned. While those announcements generated great election year headlines, the fact is that seniors and taxpayers can only hope to see a tiny fraction of Medicare's money recovered. … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending August 14 2015

    This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for two key bills that would strengthen the Social Security program. .The costs shown in the chart below assume coverage started on September 1, 201Costs include premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket cost sharing for 201Costs are estimates, and actual costs may vary somewhat depending on the pharmacy. The prices in our chart are likely to change for 2018. .Johnson conducts research on the growth of the prices of goods and services that form a major part of a retirees' household budgets. According to Johnson, Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs was a total cost of ,097 in 2020 (including what beneficiaries and their drug plans pay). "Although drug plans vary, under the standard Part D benefit, the beneficiary is responsible for about 25% of that amount, and drug plans cover the remaining 75% up to an initial coverage limit which is ,130 in 2021," Johnson says. … Continued

You might better be able to help your brother by reminding him of doctor visits and seeing that he gets to appointments. You can also help by monitoring his care plan, and making sure he understands how and when to take prescriptions and any other forms of therapy. .Progress Report: Getting Congress On Board For Key Senior Issues .Increasing the payroll tax cap. Under current law, the 12.4 percent payroll tax is applied only to the first 7,200 in earned annual income. Individuals earning more than that pay nothing in Social Security taxes on the rest of their earnings. Several proposals now before Congress would modify this policy so that higher income workers contribute more fairly to the program. .House Republicans Revive AHCA .TSCL agrees that lawmakers must take action soon to stabilize the individual health insurance market and to bring down skyrocketing prescription drug prices. In the coming months, our legislative team will continue to monitor and support legislation like the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act (S. 771, H.R. 1776), which would reduce costs and improve care for older Americans. For updates on this bill and others like it, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website or follow TSCL on Twitter. .We will keep a close eye on the evolving discussions in the months ahead, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .Insurance for Old Age: Are Annuities A Good Idea? .Recent proposals would provide "block grants" or cap federal funding for Medicaid and give states additional flexibility over how they run their programs. Under the budget plan passed by the House of Representatives, beginning in 2013, the state grants would increase annually at the rate of overall inflation, but that rate, as seniors are all too aware, is far below that of inflation for healthcare costs. Analysts say that, as a result, states that cannot keep up with the program costs, are likely to scale back coverage. TSCL believes that Congress should consider better options to ensure that the seniors who are dependent on long-term care services will be able to continue to rely on those services. .Medicare's Fall Open Enrollment Period started on October 15th and will run through December 7th. For the past 14 years, I have volunteered to help neighbors and friends learn about changes in their current Part D prescription drug or Medicare Advantage coverage during this period. We compare options, track down the lowest costing plans and pharmacies, and often switch to a lower-costing plan when there's a better deal.