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How Should Medicare Negotiate Drug Costs Heres What You Told Us
CDC recommends that people who are not fully vaccinated avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide. Since the virus spreads more easily between people in close quarters aboard ships, the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is high. It is especially important that people who are not fully vaccinated with an increased risk of severe illness avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises. .Before doing anything else make sure you have a realistic budget, and think long term. You want your income and savings to be adequate as long as possible, 30 years or even longer is not unrealistic for someone your age. In developing a budget, look back over at least three years to include large expenditures for periodic home maintenance and repairs, transportation, medical costs and other large costs. Include what you pay in taxes. Once you get an expense figure, allow for at least 3% per year for inflation. Then tally up your income and assets, including the value and expected income from retirement accounts and pensions, if any. .Require new deductibles and cost-sharing while limiting what Medigap plans could cover. Because Medicare doesn't cover all of the costs, seniors purchase supplemental coverage, known as "Medigap," to cover deductibles, and co-insurance. A proposal from President Obama's Fiscal Commission would impose a new deductible of 0 and new cost-sharing. Then, it would restrict what Medigap plans could cover, adding up to ,000 in new out-of-pocket costs that the more comprehensive Medigap plans cover now. … Continued
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Congressional Corner Capping Drug Costs Could Negatively Impact Rural Health Care Systems
Even Republicans who support changing the regulations are opposed to putting it in the NDAA and they may support an effort to pass it and try to override the President's veto, which would be the first of his presidency. .Data indicates that many, if not most, retirees, leave a significant amount of Social Security income on the table because people tend to retire too soon. Consider this: even when you reach your full retirement age, that only represents the point at which you are entitled to start full benefits without reduction for starting benefits early. It does not represent the age at which you would receive the maximum benefit amount, which is age 70. The reward for work and patience can pay off significantly. Once you reach your full retirement age, Social Security benefits are increased by 8% per year (or 2/3 of 1% per month) until age 70. .Totalization Agreement … Continued
When you start retirement benefits before your full retirement age– which for you is 66 — you may work, but Social Security will withhold one dollar in benefits for every in earnings above the limit. The question for many people who go this route is when the withholding starts. .Signatures on the Notch Victim Constituent Petition are also helping to convince more lawmakers than ever to co-sponsor "The Notch Fairness Act." .In September, federal agents announced the arrests of 35 people linked to a huge genetic testing scam. Individuals charged are accused of billing Medicare for more than .1 billion worth of phony genetic tests. The crackdown included telemedicine companies, doctors, and labs which worked in an elaborate scheme that preyed on people's fears of having genetic markers for cancer. .House Committee Discusses Retirement Security .In the 109th Congress, I co-sponsored legislation expressing CongressТ disapproval of the Totalization Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico because I believe it is imperative that we protect Social Security by preventing others from "gaming" the system. For this reason, I also co-sponsored the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act of 2005, legislation aimed at cracking down on Social Security fraud. .That represents a huge liability to the Social Security Trust Fund, should there be an amnesty. Every year the SSA processes millions of W2s. When a name or SSN on a W2 doesn't match the SSA's records, the wage report goes into an "Earnings Suspense File" (ESF) until the discrepancy can be reconciled. The ESF file today contains more than 312.7 million wage items representing 5 trillion in wages. Wages are what the Social Security Administration uses to determine entitlement to Social Security, rather than the amount of taxes paid. Immigration reform advocates say that although payroll taxes are withheld from the checks of illegal workers, they have little chance of collecting benefits. .In the days and weeks ahead, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) will closely monitor the movement of S. Con. Res. 3 since a repeal of the Affordable Care Act will impact older Americans in several ways. For instance, progress that has been made to close the Medicare Part D prescription drug "doughnut hole" will be reversed, and the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund that finances Medicare Part A will lose a critical stream of funding created by the law. Throughout the 115th Congress, TSCL's legislative team will continue to advocate on Capitol Hill for legislation that would reduce any negative impacts on the Medicare program. .New criminal cases were filed in April against a Michigan doctor accused of pushing Vitamin C injections as a treatment, and a former "naturopathic" physician accused of peddling a "dynamic duo" of substances on Facebook that he claimed could kill the virus. .Although law forbids work without authorization, immigrants use invalid SSNs to get jobs. When employers provide W2s in which the name and SSN do not match those in the SSA's records, the wage report is held in the Earnings Suspense File (ESF) until the discrepancy can be corrected, according to the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General. This can occur even years later when a claim is filed for benefits.