News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending April 20 2018

    Viral Outbreaks Related to Planes .Money for Life: Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck, Steve Vernon, September 2012. .Sources: Options For Reducing The Deficit: 2014 to 2023, Congressional Budget Office, November 2013. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Social Security Trust Funds

    "This year is particularly difficult to forecast with certainty," Johnson says. "The inflation patterns, caused in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were unprecedented in my experience," she says. .In yet a third judicial ruling, The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a rule by the Trump Administration that hospitals will have to publicly disclose the prices they negotiate with insurance companies. .Katherine Estep, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, a U.S.-focused industry trade group, said the CDC has not confirmed any cases of transmission onboard a U.S. airline. … Continued

Medigap — Medicare supplements tend to have higher premiums than Medicare Advantage plans, but are popular because they cover most of your deductibles and co-insurance costs. Even so, Medicare estimates that average annual premium and out-of-pocket costs for Medigap policies can range around ,500. .Editor's note: While I have a pretty reliable track record on estimating the COLA, this year's inflation is far different than at any previous time in the past 26+ years. Inflation has been so volatile that I worry my probability models may not work as well as they typically do. In most years I'm pretty certain about my September estimate of the COLA for the following year. But this time all bets are off. Be patient — I'm no psychic, and stay tuned to the news! .Depending on health, and type of Medigap coverage, seniors would get hit with up to ,100 per year in new costs that were previously covered by their health plan. ."Because earnings are used to determine entitlement, the portion of earnings from jobs worked prior to legal authorization poses a substantial long-term liability to the Social Security Trust Fund," Cates says. In order to improve Social Security solvency, Congress is expected to consider cutting Social Security benefits, perhaps significantly, at some point in the future. "This policy that ‘pays benefits based on work while in the country illegally raises questions as to whether individuals who worked without authorization and committed document fraud will benefit at the expense of others who paid in under valid SSNs," Cates notes. .Over five million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and each year thousands more are diagnosed with this painful, heart-rending illness. Most of us know someone—a family member, coworker or friend—suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. With the number of Alzheimer's patients expected to skyrocket in the coming decades, we must continue to press forward, offering support for family members and caregivers, while developing better and more effective treatment options as we work toward a cure for this terrible disease. .When attending town halls, find out how your candidate stands on this issue. Ask whether he or she supports expanding Medicare coverage to dental care. .Almost 4 million retired Notch Babies, spouses and their survivors would benefit from this modest old age boost that TSCL estimates would cost about .5 billion. .A 2.8 percent COLA would be the largest since 2012, but according to The Senior Citizens League's Social Security Policy Analyst Mary Johnson, "Retirees may be disappointed when they learn what the cost of their Medicare premiums and prescription drugs will be for 2019." .Defense Department Shutting Military Families and Retirees out of Treatment Facilities