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  • H R 1245 Affordable Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act

    The CBO recommended substantial changes in tax and/or spending policies in the near future in order to put the federal budget on a sustainable path forward. Acting sooner rather than later is important, the authors noted, so that those affected by any changes have plenty of time to prepare, so that uncertainty can be reduced, and so that long-term interest rates can be held down. Members of the House Budget Committee seemed to agree during Wednesday's hearing, and Chairman Paul Ryan (WI-1) stated: "If this report tells us anything, it's that the status quo isn't working." .Big Effort to Lower Drug Prices Once Again in Congress .This year, more than 50 percent of Social Security beneficiaries paid taxes on their benefits, even though many of them only made little more than twice the federal poverty level in income. Do you believe this is fair and, if not, what should be done about it? … Continued

  • Best Ways Save Februarymarch 2017

    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. .For more information about Social Security reform options, click here. To watch Wednesday's House Budget Committee Hearing in full, click here. .The government would provide a fixed amount of money or "voucher" to purchase private coverage. Currently Medicare pays per procedure. Under this proposal the federal government would provide a fixed amount of money or "voucher," to private health plans to provide coverage. The amount of the voucher would be limited to the growth of the gross domestic product plus one percentage point. However, for the last 40 years national healthcare spending has exceeded the growth of the gross domestic product by more than two percentage points. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said that over time the vouchers would become increasingly inadequate to purchase sufficient coverage, or that seniors would face significantly higher premiums. … Continued

"A COLA that reflects real cost changes is essential, and of far greater value for protecting income in retirement than a measure that reflects how people are forced to reduce their standard of living when costs rise," Johnson says. "One gives a modest boost, the other would tend cap the growth in Social Security benefits over time." .Uncovered healthcare costs — In planning your budget, include costs that Medicare doesn't cover — dental care, eye exams and eyeglasses, for example. When shopping health plans, some MA plans may offer extra benefits like these. .On top of unexpected coverage shortfalls, TSCL's 2017 annual Survey of Senior Costs indicates that homeowners' insurance was the fastest growing housing cost over the past year. In fact, since 2000, the national average homeowners premium rose 154%, a rate of about 9.6% per year! .Conn received more than .5 million in attorney's fees from the Social Security Administration, making him the third highest paid disability lawyer in the country. Reviews of Dougherty's bank accounts found ,000 in unexplained deposits. Senator Tom Coburn (OK) told 60 Minutes, "If all these people are disabled…I want them all to get it and then we need to figure out how we're going to fund it. But my investigation tells me and my common sense tells me that we got a system that's being gamed pretty big now." .On Thursday, TSCL held its first ever town hall meeting with great success in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District. TSCL would like to thank Congressional Candidate Mark Meadows for taking time out of his busy schedule to address concerned members and supporters. .Many observers believe the plan will likely include a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts for Social Security. Some of the most commonly mentioned proposals are: (1) switching to the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate Social Security COLAs; (2) lifting or raising the cap on income which is subject to Social Security taxes; and (3) raising the Social Security retirement age. Switching to the chained CPI alone would both reduce initial benefits and cut lifetime Social Security benefits by more than 10%. .If you start benefits sooner than age 66 and continue to work, you are subject to Social Security earnings restriction rules. Earn more than the annual exempt amount and Social Security will withhold some or all of your earnings. In addition, once you start benefits, your income may subject a portion of your Social Security benefits to tax. .This week, TSCL endorsed two new bills from Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-35) – the Transparent Drug Pricing Act (H.R. 4116) and the Competitive DRUGS Act (H.R. 4117). If signed into law, the bills would promote transparency in the prescription drug industry and prevent anti-competitive pay-for-delay deals, in which brand-name drug companies pay generic drug makers millions of dollars to delay the introduction of their generic medicines to the market. .To get information about Medicare supplement premiums, first select the plan offering the coverage you are interested in, "A" through "N". You can find a listing of these plans on page 82 of the 2017 Medicare & You handbook but not all states will have all plans. Once you have chosen the plan then you can simply compare premiums between insurers. The coverage for each type of plan is just the same, but premiums between various insurers can vary tremendously.