News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending April 13 2012

    Why You Should Beware When The Doctor Wants To Hold You For "Observation" .The President's favored nations rule has also upset conservative groups along with the industry and patient organizations. Some of those groups had launched a media campaign against the proposal before Trump actually announced it. .In 2015, the last time a zero COLA was announced for the following year, the base Part B premium increase was estimated to be 52 percent.[2] While an increase of that size is not expected for 2021, any double digit increase in Medicare premiums would be unsustainable for many older households whose retirement savings have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus recession. … Continued

  • Six Ways To Lower Your Prescription Costs

    Voters are worried about the impact that midterm elections could have on Social Security benefits. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimates that recent tax reform will add .8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. To make matters worse, the Social Security trustees recently reported program financing has eroded, and estimated that the trust funds will run short by 2034, due to lower-than-expected revenue from tax law changes. .This week, the 115th Congress convened and lawmakers in the Senate took the first steps towards a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. .What does the policy cover? In addition to basic services, make sure you learn about tooth removals, root canals, periodontal gum treatments, dentures, crowns, bridges and implants. Read details carefully. For example, your dental plan may only cover one implant a year, even though you may need to get two or more done at one time. … Continued

TSCL enthusiastically supports the Strengthening Social Security Act and the Social Security Fairness Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for both of them this week. .TSCL believes that the current WEP unfairly reduces the benefits of public servants, and we are pleased that support on Capitol Hill has continued to grow for the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act. .Currently doctors are paid for every service they provide, giving a big incentive for wasteful duplication. Patients wind up getting repeated tests, X-rays, CT scans and procedures involving expensive computerized equipment. .However, others at Tuesday's hearing focused on the skyrocketing prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Ron Wyden (OR) said, "The fact is, seniors are getting pounded by drug costs. And in my view, there is an enormous amount of work that has to be done to guarantee that seniors have affordable access to the medications they need." .Spending Bill Dominates "Lame Duck" Session .The U.S. depends on China for thousands of chemicals needed to make prescription drugs. That's because it turns out that pharmaceutical companies have outsourced our generic medicine manufacturing to China. .TSCL is continuing to work hard for any and all legislation that would accomplish those goals. ."We are saying you need to be doing more inspections," Verma told reporters, explaining her message to states. "We called on states in early March to go into every single nursing home and to do a focused inspection around infection control." .This week, lawmakers in the Senate continued working on plans to reform the healthcare system. In addition, The Senior Citizens League saw five key bills gain new cosponsors in the House.