News

  • 2017 Loss Buying Power Study

    Fraud, waste and abuse are costing taxpayers and seniors an estimated billion a year, but Medicare fails to recover overpayments about 80 percent of the time. The Inspector General recently said that of the 6,287,546 in overpayments identified through the 30-month period ending March 31, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported collecting only ,168,50But it gets even worse. The OIG said that it could not verify that the ,168,502 had been collected as reported because CMS did not have an adequate system for documenting overpayment collections. .The amount you pay for your CT scan will vary by your Medicare Advantage plan and whether you get your CT scan from a preferred provider. You will need to call your plan to learn the out-of-pocket cost details, and to make sure the facility, doctors, and medical technicians performing the CT scan are preferred providers with your Medicare Advantage plan. You could pay considerably more if you use providers who are not under contract with your Medicare Advantage plan. Call the customer service number on the back of your health plan's card, have your questions written down and be ready to take notes. .TSCL is hopeful that lawmakers will pass a stopgap measure before the October deadline, since a government shutdown could negatively impact Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries. We will keep a close eye on the evolving negotiations over the next two weeks, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. … Continued

  • Best Ways To Save 3

    5 DIY Holiday Gift Ideas For A Social Security Budget .A number of the Commission's proposals would hit seniors particularly hard. Here are a few highlights: .The Post story said that labs struggled to ramp up coronavirus testing, and hospitals and nursing homes ran short of personal protective equipment over the spring. These failures hampered the national and state responses to the pandemic, leaving the United States with far more infections and deaths than any other country. Even now, shortages of protective medical gear are looming as outbreaks grow in the South. One big reason is because these supplies often come from other countries, which were also dealing with outbreaks. … Continued

To counter concerns over the cost of "fixing" the Notch and the financial solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund, TSCL backs an alternative "capped-cost" solution. "The Notch Fairness Act" would provide Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926, or their survivors who receive benefits based on their accounts, a choice of either improved monthly benefits, or a lump-sum of ,000 payable over a four-year period. Recent surveys of TSCL members show more than 75% favor the lump-sum legislation. .Talk to prospective assisted living or long term care facility management about your real estate problems. Occupancy rates at assisted living facilities have fallen, coinciding with the collapse in real estate. Find out if the facility offers special terms or agreements for people who are waiting for their homes to sell, and if so, what those terms might be. .This week, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for the Social Security Administration Fairness Act (S. 3147, H.R. 6251), which was recently introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and Representative John Larson (CT-1) with the support of six Senate cosponsors and twenty House cosponsors. .Here's how this scam works: Crooks target low-income Medicare beneficiaries to persuade them to participate. Your brother-in law may have been asked, or even coerced, into "selling" his Medicare card number and signing weekly or monthly papers to verify that home healthcare services were rendered (even if they weren't.) In exchange, he may have received the TV as a one-time payment. .Noting the vast and unprecedented danger that the coronavirus presents to the elderly and people with disabilities, patient advocates described the lack of inspections as a shocking oversight. .However, there is concern that it could make it even harder to obtain supplies critical to combating the pandemic, such as personal protective equipment, testing supplies and even medications to treat coronavirus patients. .Poll after poll has shown the American public supports expanding Social Security. It,s time Congress listens to the American people who want to expand Social Security, not the Wall Street millionaires who want to cut it. .How do you envision your perfect day in retirement? Are you the type that needs to be busy with work and projects to feel fulfilled, or do you look forward to spending time puttering around on your own, traveling or just enjoying leisure? Note how you like to spend your time. .Millicent Graves of Williamsburg, Virginia recently was shocked to discover an astounding price range in the same generic drug after her doctor prescribed a different form of Clobetasol propionate, commonly used to treat psoriasis. When she filled her previous prescription in December of 2014 for the Clobetasol solution, she paid — the full retail cost. But when filling the first prescription for Clobetasol foam in 2015, Graves discovered the retail cost was 5.8And five weeks later when she refilled her prescription for the foam, the cost had jumped dramatically— to 7, making the total difference in price between the solution and foam 1,691%. "When I looked at the receipt I almost passed out," she says. "Everything is the same as the first bottle! It's price gouging," she says.