News

  • Ask The Advisor July August 2019

    According to the Center for Public Integrity, one of the nation's oldest nonpartisan investigative news services, home visits have risen sharply at many Medicare Advantage health plans. While visiting nurses and doctors don't offer any treatment during these visits, they do report exam findings to the patient's primary care doctor. Insurers say the free annual physicals offer a new benefit to help certain health plan enrollees stay fit and in their homes as long as possible. But critics, including some Members of Congress, are concerned the visits may be padding Medicare's bill. ."UnitedHealth Culls Doctors from Medicare Advantage Plans," Melinda Beck, Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2013. .Housing Survey, a survey of landlords and tenants used to provide rent data for CPI's shelter indexes. … Continued

  • Legislative Update June 12 2019

    Your husband would need to apply for Social Security disability benefits to learn if his medical condition meets the Social Security Administration's definition of disability. But before getting started, it's important to understand your choices, since your husband is also old enough to start Social Security retirement benefits. .While more than 47 million citizens of the United States are Medicare beneficiaries, each day 10,000 newly eligible citizens enroll in the Medicare program. And, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund — the fund that pays the Medicare bills — is projected to become exhausted in 202On top of this, the Department of Justice estimates that billion is lost each year from fraud in the Medicare program. .TSCL will be watching closely for the expected executive orders and we will report on them in our legislative update that follows the release of the orders. … Continued

Social Security provides the income and access to health care that seniors rely on each and every day. They are benefits my generation has earned – and future generations have been promised. We must work together and make sure our country keeps this promise. .Sources: "Verifying Eligibility for Certain New Tax Benefits Was A Challenge for the 2010 Filing Season," Treasury Inspector General, September 30, 2010, Ref. No. 2010-41-128 . Contact your doctor's office and alert them to this dilemma. Ask if they have emergency samples of Lantus and your blood pressure medicine that they can provide, or if they can give you the contact number of programs that can help you. .Can You Tell Me What to Expect in The Part D Doughnut Hole? .Sources: Impact of Alien Nonpayment Provisions on Field Offices Along the Mexican Border, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, February 2011 A-08-10-20140. Impact of Unauthorized Employment on Social Security Benefits, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, December 2006, A-14-05-14042. .Since people often move when they retire, under locality pay adjustment rates, the area they choose to live in during retirement could significantly impact the amount of Social Security they receive. Would retirees crowd into areas of the country with high locality pay adjustments? .Now Congressional Democrats, while only having a razor-thin majority in the Senate, are planning a major push to include in measures to lower drug prices in upcoming legislation meant to rebuild the U.S. infrastructure. .To participate in TSCL's monthly polls, visit our home page. .5 DIY Holiday Gift Ideas For A Social Security Budget