News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending December 30 2016

    Providing Medicare services is not simple, but it is critical that we continue to make efficient investments in the healthcare expenses of 48 million people and develop an adequate workforce to provide those services. I proudly voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which expanded access for Medicare beneficiaries and increased investment in healthcare provider training. I also remain a staunch opponent of attempts to increase costs to beneficiaries and privatize this valuable program. .All Americans will one day become seniors, and so it should be the priority of all members of Congress to make retirement planning easier and to defend and strengthen programs like Medicare and Social Security for future generations. .If signed into law, H.R. 711 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – a provision of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduces the earned benefits of millions of public employees by as much as one-half each year. H.R. 711 would establish a new formula for the non-covered earnings of teachers, police officers, and other public servants, and it would modify the WEP for current retirees who are affected by it. … Continued

  • Medicares Home Health Care Benefits Become Harder To Get

    According to information from the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit organization that provides Medicare counseling and educational programs, when you notify a Medicare Advantage plan after the move, then your mom's Special Enrollment Period begins the month you tell her plan, plus two more full months thereafter. ."Let's have some discussion about what the government would actually be measuring," Johnson says. "It would not be direct measurement of the growth in the costs of specific goods and services as is the case under the conventional CPI," she says. "Yet that's what most people think of when we talk about inflation," she says. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the chained CPI measures the amount of additional resources that an individual would need to maintain the same standard of living this year as last year. "That's not the same thing, especially for people dependent on fixed incomes," Johnson notes. .We at TSCL are not doctors or scientists. But with all the different voices being heard about what the right thing is to do or not to do, what we do urge you to be is very cautious. It makes sense to us to listen to the trained professionals in medical and scientific fields as we deal with our current health care situation. … Continued

The federal contribution would be redirected from disaster relief money at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those funds are not likely to last more than two months, and the President did not say when the benefits would kick in. .TSCL agrees with Rep. Johnson, and we believe Congress must begin formulating a serious plan to fix the program's finances. Recently, we announced our support for two pieces of legislation that we believe are long overdue. One bill (S. 499 / H.R. 918) would prevent beneficiaries from collecting both unemployment benefits and disability insurance benefits at the same time. The second bill (S. 1198 / H.R. 1936) would ensure that evidence from convicted felons and other criminals is excluded when determining whether an individual is eligible for disability benefits. .Will Medicare Soon Include Dental Coverage and More? .The Senate Finance Committee recently passed The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act out of committee and now it heads to the floor for further action. The bill, which has support of both Democrats and Republicans would, among other things, cap drug prices based on the rate of inflation. .TSCL is not the only organization to warn about the prospect of another extremely low COLA next year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in its latest budget report projected that next year's COLA would be 1.6%. Seniors depend on COLAS to protect the buying power of benefits from rising costs over retirement, which can last as long as 25 or 30 years. But over the past five years, COLAs have been at record lows, averaging only 1.4% after averaging about 4% per year since COLAs became automatic in 1975. .Your doctor or provider accepts "assignment" or the Medicare approved payment, as payment in full. There may be some doctors in your area that accept assignment, but fewer do that anymore. You will need to call your doctor to find out if he or she accepts assignment. Many are charging more than the Medicare-approved amount and you or your Medigap plan will need to cover the "excess" charges. Even if you do locate a doctor who accepts assignment, a growing number of doctors are not accepting new Medicare patients. To find a doctor who accepts assignment call the customer service number of your Medigap supplement. Then call the physician to find out if he or she is accepting new Medicare patients. .Second, four new cosponsors signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 915, H.R. 1205), bringing the cosponsor total up to twenty-seven in the Senate and 190 in the House. The new cosponsors are: Senator Patty Murray (WA), Senator Tom Udall (NM), Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and Representative Vicky Hartzler (MO-4). If adopted, the Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. .Some 13% of the people who receive both Medicare and Medicaid are 85 and older. The youngest Notch Babies turn 85 this year, while the oldest turn 9That's approximately 1.17 million. TSCL believes that roughly one quarter of Notch Babies receive Medicaid as well as Medicare. .Doughnut hole or coverage gap stage: 5.76.