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  • Congressional Corner The Payroll Tax Cut Is A Bad Deal For Homeowners

    Key Bill Gains New Cosponsors .As we suspected, Congress has now officially admitted they won't finish their work on time and once again will have to pass what amounts to emergency legislation to keep the government open. Actually, to say it was emergency legislation is probably not accurate because operating this way has become fairly normal now. .Mary: Who tends to use anchors to influence our decisions, and when should we be wary? … Continued

  • Ask Advisor October 2018

    TSCL is encouraged by the President's comments on drug prices, and we urge the administration to do everything in its power to bring down costs for consumers in the months ahead. In the meantime, our legislative team will continue to advocate for legislation like the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act (S. 771, H.R. 1776), which would take comprehensive steps to lower costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. .Bloomberg News reports that the legislation would establish a task force on older investors at the Securities and Exchange Commission. This Senior Investor Taskforce would be required to identify challenges such as the financial exploitation and cognitive decline of investors older than 65, and to consider whether rules issued by the SEC or securities self-regulatory organizations should be changed to benefit them. .Last year, under Shkreli's direction, Turing Pharmaceuticals made headlines for buying the rights to a decades-old anti-infective drug and hiking its price from .50 per pill to 0 per pill. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had tough questions for Turing's representatives at Thursday's hearing, and each of them expressed their dismay for the price gouging that is occurring in the pharmaceutical market. … Continued

Hunger and food insecurity is a huge problem in America. Nearly 41 million Americans struggle to put food on the table each day, including five million seniors. Because of their lack of income, many of our seniors are often faced with the frightening decision of whether to purchase food or medicine. .Last - don't let all the political spin about Social Security scare you. The program is not going broke. Social Security does face a long-term financial challenge. Even when the Social Security Trust Fund becomes exhausted there would still be sufficient assets from payroll taxes to pay about 75 percent of promised benefits. Although that isn't a fair or acceptable outcome — a far more likely one — Congress will take action to correct the imbalance. .Surprise! Recent Budget Law Accelerates Closing Of Medicare Part D Doughnut Hole .TSCL Believes New Policy Would Add To Growing Social Security Woes .Last year the House of Representatives passed major legislation to lower drug prices that included giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to negotiate for lower drug prices with drug companies. .Both bills would stop a premium hike of nearly 50 percent that's scheduled to hit millions of beneficiaries in January. They would also prevent a deductible increase of nearly , from 7 to Most Medicare beneficiaries will not be affected by the increases due to the "hold harmless provision" that protects them in years when premium increases are large enough to reduce their monthly Social Security checks. Since seniors are expected to receive no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year, the premium rates for around 70 percent of beneficiaries will remain unchanged from this year's. .According to the group, the plan would reduce the deficit by trillion and it would save enrollees approximately ,500 per year, but it's controversial for two major reasons. First, it would completely eliminate traditional Medicare, whereas many other reform proposals would keep it as an option. Second, those already enrolled in Medicare would be affected by the transition, which would have a 2014 start date. Other reform proposals would delay implementation to protect seniors from any drastic or sudden changes. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following a two-week spring recess and quickly began working on legislation to fund the federal government past Friday, April 28th. At the time of writing this week's update, a continuing resolution (CR) had not yet been adopted by either chamber, but votes are expected by Friday evening. .Debt among older Americans is rising and affecting a growing number of retirees. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances, the percentage of households with debt headed by an adult age 65 and older increased from 41.5% in 1992, to 60% in 201Medical debt poses the biggest challenge over the course of a retirement.