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  • Video Youre Not Alone

    "Most people 65 and over take more than one prescription drug, so to get the lowest-costing plan that's right for you, people need to do a drug plan comparison based on all the drugs they currently take, " Johnson explains. "In addition, you should carefully compare prices at network retail pharmacies as well as mail order — those prices can also vary significantly," Johnson notes. .With no increase in Social Security benefits over the past two years, seniors participating in TSCL surveys say they are putting off visits to the doctors, and many are not filling prescriptions. But foregoing healthcare can backfire, leaving you with bigger health problems and bills down the road. Here are three things you can start doing right now to lower your Medicare costs and improve your health. .There's no need for such radical changes to the system in order to preserve Social Security for future generations. The Social Security system can be made solvent for generations to come by adopting some of the relatively modest policy changes proposed by the Social Security Trustees. We certainly shouldn't undermine the entire Social Security program with some harebrained privatization scheme that bankrupts Social Security in the short run and offers no guarantee of decent benefits in the long run. … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending September 14 2012

    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. .Sources: "Divided Deficit Panel OKs Proposal," John Maggs, Politico, December 3, 20"The Moment of Truth" The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, December 2010. .Last Wednesday, the Senate's Special Committee on Aging held a hearing titled "Turning 65: Navigating Critical Decisions to Age Well." The committee focused on the social and financial challenges that keep many seniors from living fulfilling lives in retirement. As Chairwoman Collins (ME) stated, "For the next 12 years, 10,000 Americans will turn 65 each day." … Continued

Deciding when to file is the biggest decision you face. Social Security benefits are calculated using a formula called the primary insurance amount, or PIA. Seniors who wait to start receiving Social Security until their full retirement age (currently 66) receive 100 percent of PIA; taking benefits at 62, the first year of eligibility, gets them 75 percent of PIA. By waiting until age 70, they'll receive 132 percent of the PIA – nearly double the monthly income for the rest of their lives. Those benefits are enhanced by an annual cost-of-living adjustment, which is added back in for any years of delayed filing. .The Finance Committee members spent much of Tuesday's hearing debating the primary motivators of rising healthcare costs, especially growing premiums in the individual market. Many on the committee seemed convinced that the ACA is to blame, while others said the Trump Administration is responsible. .Early Efforts to Hold Congress to Its Promise Leads to a Notch Commission .This week, four new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711), bringing the total up to 11The new cosponsors are Reps. Don Young (AK-1), Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Erik Paulsen (MN-3). .To learn more about the WEP, download the Social Security Administration Publication No. 05-10045 here — https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf. .Investors already smell big money for a COVID-19 vaccine. .Finance Committee Questions HHS Nominee .When a zero COLA was announced for 2016, the Medicare Trustees projected that the Part B premium and deductible amounts would increase by an unprecedented 52 percent between 2015 and 2016 — from 4.90 to 9.30 per month.[7] Passage of The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, however resulted in reducing the increase in Part B premiums from 9.30 per month to 1.80 per month, which was still an extremely high 16.1 percent increase. The premium included a repayment amount that was added to monthly premiums of all beneficiaries in future years to recover over time the cost of the reduced premium rate in 2016.[8] .Medicare Part D is a rip off. My wife and I will pay more for our medication now, because we cannot afford to take the risk of not enrolling. We were getting most of our drugs from Canada, but under Part D we not only have to pay a monthly premium, but also have co-pays, plus much higher prices for our medication to meet the deductible or if we hit the doughnut hole. Forcing us to do this is simply not fair. What happened to the legislation to legalize the importation of drugs from Canada?