News

  • Legislative Update November 2019

    Congress has spent much of its time over the past two years locked in a rigidly - partisan standoff over the federal budget deficit. But TSCL's new 2012 Senior Survey results suggest that lawmakers may not be paying close enough attention to senior voters — something that may come back to haunt them come November elections. They may be retired but, to seniors, jobs — not benefit cuts — are the key to cutting the federal deficit. .August Recess Continues for House Lawmakers . Send an email to your Members of Congress. This is an election year, and the last thing they want to hear is that health insurers are blaming COVID-19 for the steep price increases. You can get email addresses on TSCL's website here: http://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/8854/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=10560. Or, you can look up your Representative and send emails at: www.house.gov and Senators at: www.senate.gov. … Continued

  • The Government Stays Open For Now But The Debt Ceiling Looms

    By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board .Consequently, Medicare spent billion in 2013 but paid out billion by 2017 for these treatments. In addition, neurology medicines, mostly those used to combat multiple sclerosis, accounted for more than 50% of total Medicare payments, despite representing just 4% of all claims filed. ."Turning our backs on trading partners during a crisis could damage our relationships long after this pandemic ends," the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA) and dozens of other business and trade groups wrote in a letter to the administration. … Continued

Source: James W. Kelley & Joseph R. Humphreys, "Congressional Intent Concerning The Notch Issue: Legislative Background of the 1977 Social Security Amendments," 1994.Source: Congressional Research Service May 24, 1999 .You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. .You can find contact information HERE. In addition, you can find ten sample town hall questions HERE, in this month's issue of the Social Security and Medicare Advisor. .Do you think Social Security's funding should be strengthened? Consider attending a local town hall in your area. Sign up to ask questions, or approach a staffer of your Member of Congress to relay your ideas. Together, we can make the case that better retirement security can't be achieved through cutting the benefits that more than 61 million people depend on, but rather by everyone paying their fair share during their working years. .As with nearly every other aspect of our lives, the coronavirus has changed the agenda of Congress. Discussion of a fourth big spending bill to deal with the pandemic began this week and all three sides (House, Senate, and the President) have set out their preliminary positions. .TSCL was pleased to see support grow for H.R. 1795 and H.R. 2305 this week, and we look forward to helping build additional support for them in the coming months. .The annual COLA increased Social Security benefits in January of 2021 by just 1.3 percent. While the lack of inflation in 2020 did somewhat improve the buying power of Social Security benefits by 2 percentage points by the month of January 2021 — from a loss in buying power of 30 percent to a loss of 28 percent — that improvement was completely wiped out by soaring inflation in February and March of this year. .Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. .Nonetheless, several Senators at Tuesday's hearing urged CMS to consider withdrawing the proposed payment changes. Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (UT) expressed concerns about the rule's potential unintended consequences. He said: "I believe this experiment is ill-conceived and likely to harm beneficiaries. It is an overreach on the part of CMS that, in my opinion, goes beyond the agency's statutory authority, extends nationwide, and requires all Medicare Part B providers to participate."