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  • Test Program To Give Covid Vaccine Through Local Pharmacies

    In addition, one new cosponsor – Rep. William Keating (MA-9) – signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (H.R. 3118). The cosponsor total is now up to sixty-three. If signed into law, H.R. 3118 would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous monthly benefits; it would base COLAs upon the CPI-E, resulting in more accurate annual increases; and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. The bill would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. .A new healthcare cost survey conducted in October 2011 by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) — one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups — found that the majority of seniors spent a very significant portion of their Social Security benefits in order to pay for healthcare. The survey asked for information about the out-of-pocket costs that respondents paid in the first six months of 2011, and for comments about how they were managing after two years of receiving no annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). .New criminal cases were filed in April against a Michigan doctor accused of pushing Vitamin C injections as a treatment, and a former "naturopathic" physician accused of peddling a "dynamic duo" of substances on Facebook that he claimed could kill the virus. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner Its Time For Seniors To Get A Fair Cola 2

    Key Bill Gains Cosponsor .In addition to drug manufacturers, major business groups and 32 conservative organizations to his actions and have been lobbying The President to change his mind. .Social Security was never designed to be the sole source of retirement income. It replaces around 40 percent of the average earnings of its beneficiaries. Pensions and savings form the two other major streams of retirement income, but people who retire with all three sources of retirement income are rare. Even worse, recent research from the National Institute of Retirement Security found that more than 40% of older adults have no retirement income other than Social Security. … Continued

Not only does this put unwitting retirees' Medicare number in the hands of crooks who can then resell it to be used to file more false claims, but it can cause Medicare to deny future coverage for genetic testing when it's really needed, because the patient's record will show the test has already been performed. .The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports H.R. 1205, H.R. 6251, H.R. 4957, and H.R. 2212, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information about these and other TSCL-backed bills, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. ."Higher gasoline and transportation prices in particular are behind the high COLA estimate for 2022, because those expenditures are given greater weight or importance in the consumer price index (CPI) that's used to calculate the COLA. That works to the advantage of retired and disabled beneficiaries for the COLA payable in January of 202That has not been the case for many of the past 12 years when cheap gasoline, and other falling prices dragged down the COLA. Since 2010, COLAs have averaged just 1.4%. Inflation was so low that no COLA was payable at all in 2010, 2011, and 201In 2017 the COLA was almost zero, just 0.3 percentage point. ."Addressing our fiscal challenges will require many tough choices and policy changes—but switching to the chained CPI represents neither. Such a change offers policy makers the rare opportunity to achieve significant savings spread across the entire budget by making a technical improvement to existing policies. As such, across-the-board adoption of the chained CPI should be at the top of the list for any deficit reduction plan or down payment." .Not surprisingly, TSCL surveys and email indicated that although Medicare costs continued to grow from 2010 to 2011, many seniors were forced to cut back and forego healthcare services. This undoubtedly was a major reason why government spending on Medicare remained relatively flat. The following table illustrates responses to a question from the TSCL 2011 Healthcare Cost Survey conducted in October 2011: .Your required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount that you must withdraw from retirement accounts each year. Failure to do so by your deadline can result in a penalty equal to 50% of the required amount not withdrawn. .Four Bills Gain Support .Shopping for housing after an emergency. Your retirement housing is one of the most important investments you will ever make. It's important to start your search of retirement living options while you or the family member you are helping can optimally participate. Be realistic about care needs. Often families discover that a facility does not offer the level of services that may later be required and need to move again. .The state of Virginia, however, offers retirees a chance to retain certain parts of coverage but "opt out" of others. If Paula "opted out" of Part D drug coverage, for example, and took medical, dental, and vision coverage alone, she would pay 6 per month. The portion of the premium for the drug coverage through the state of Virginia was a whopping 4 per month.