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  • Category Issues Medicare Part B Page 4

    Johnson says that the federal government is looking at the wrong market basket to determine the annual change in prices in the goods and services used by retired and disabled Americans. According to Johnson, had the government used a more appropriate inflation index that measures costs experienced by people age 62 and older, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), retirees would get a COLA of 2.1 percent instead of 0.3 percent in 201"But instead, the COLA is based on the increased price of goods normally purchased by younger working adults," she notes. .TSCL feels strongly that Social Security beneficiaries are entitled to transparency and honesty from the federal government, and we believe that Congressman Jones's H.R. 3500 would go a long way in ensuring that. We enthusiastically support the Honesty in CPI Reporting Act, and we look forward to working with Congressman Jones in the coming months to help build support for it. .The study found that people who are retiring now, or who are approaching retirement, are facing a significant loss in lifetime Social Security benefits. Although the amounts vary by earnings, and years worked, in some cases today's average-earning retirees could stand to lose nearly ,000 over a 20-year retirement. … Continued

  • Issues Cola Voices From Across The Country

    At Wednesday's hearing, members of the committee heard from Jonathan Blum, the Deputy Administrator and Director of Medicare at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Blum stressed the need for Congress to act before January 1st, since the cost of repealing the SGR is the lowest it has been in years. He also asked members of the committee to build upon the work that CMS has already done instead of starting from scratch. "We shouldn't step back, we should step forward," he said. In addition, he urged committee members to advance a plan that would create a five-year transition period and allow CMS to continue experimenting with different payment models, like accountable care organizations and medical homes. .This is certainly the case in Florida's 5th Congressional District, which I represent, where one in every four citizens has received SNAP benefits at some point over the past 12 months, a rate which is nearly twice the national average. It is estimated that only 42 percent of eligible seniors are enrolled in SNAP. SSI and the MSP have similarly low rates among seniors and individuals with disabilities. This is unacceptable. .The Senior Citizens League can be reached via e-mail at comments@ or you can reach us by telephone at 800-333-TSCL (8725). Our mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League consists of vocally active senior citizens concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. … Continued

TSCL Estimates 2019 Social Security COLA .Throughout the hearing, the "big dog" in the room – as one witness referred to it – was the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). Each of the witnesses urged the Subcommittee Members to replace the current Medicare physician payment formula with a new model, saying that there's simply too much uncertainty surrounding the SGR. Though most seemed to agree, the price tag of repealing the SGR is daunting and the process of re-writing a billing system with 8,000 different codes will certainly take time. .Notification dates: Because you started working and received about 6 months of Social Security payments prior to your notification of Social Security, these payments may not have been properly accounted for in your withholdings and may form a substantial portion of the overpayment. It's very important to notify Social Security, either in advance or immediately, if you work. .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! .Medicaid is the major source of coverage for an estimated 6 million seniors who need long-term care. Last year, long-term care services required one-third of the federal Medicaid budget, more than 0 billion. States, which share the program's cost, spent tens of billions to match that amount. ."This is the right time to act. Our trust funds are approaching insolvency even more quickly because of the pandemic," Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who is leading the effort, said last Monday on the Senate floor. "It is far better to prepare and hopefully prevent a crisis than wait for a crisis to fall upon us." .Social Security Reform – Work for solutions that extend the Trust Fund's solvency and strengthen the program without enacting harmful cuts. .Second, one new cosponsor also signed on to the Social Security Administration Fairness Act (H.R. 6251), bringing the total up to thirty-five. The new cosponsor is Representative Ron Kind (WI-3). If adopted, H.R. 6251 would improve the administrative funding of the Social Security Administration, implement a moratorium on field office closures, and eliminate two waiting periods for Disability Insurance beneficiaries. .Tuesday's hearing made it clear that the Joint Committee has an enormous amount of work to do in a very short amount of time and in a very politically-charged environment. Adding to the pressure, Elmendorf told the Committee Members that if they wish to have their proposal scored by the CBO before voting on it, they'll need to submit it by early November, giving them less than two months to reach a compromise. Despite the tough circumstances, most Members seemed up to the challenge and will to, as one Committee Member put it, "go big, go long, and go smart."