News

  • Medical Expense Deductions

    The costs of custodial care pose a big challenge for Alzheimer's patients and their families. According to a survey of long term care costs by Genworth Financial, Inc., a semi-private room in a nursing home can cost ,148 a month, or ,750 per month in an assisted living facility. Even a home health care aide costs per hour. Many families work to put together a caregiving network with family, friends, churches and community services in the early stages of Alzheimer's treatment. .Obviously we will continue to push for passage of those bills and keep you updated about their progress as things develop. .A few years later, under 2003 Medicare drug legislation, funding for private plans was significantly boosted and the program got rebranded as "Medicare Advantage." Enrollment grew steadily and rapidly ever since. But by 2009, government economists reported that the payments to the plans cost the federal government 14 percent more than the same services would have cost under traditional Medicare. … Continued

  • Biden Plan Leaves Out Drug Price Reductions

    TSCL would like to thank Reps. Larry Bucshon (IN-8), Richard Hanna (NY-24), Mike Conaway (TX-11), Rodney Alexander (LA-5), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2), Gregory Meeks (NY-6), and Christopher Smith (NJ-4) for taking the time to meet and discuss important issues for seniors. TSCL also met with top staffers in the following offices: Reps. Grace Napolitano (CA-39), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), Roscoe Bartlett (MD-6), Steve Southerland (FL-2), Dennis Kucinich (OH-10), and Peter Visclosky (IL-1). .If you have recently moved and need to update your official mailing address, visit MySocialSecurityaccount, or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. .Senate Drug-pricing Bill to get Renewed Push … Continued

The stockpile had 13 million medical-quality N-95 masks when the pandemic hit. The government aspires to have 1 billion, with 300 million anticipated by fall. It had 2 million gowns at the start of the pandemic and expects that to grow to as many as 7 million. .There are 1,313,935 active members/supporters. .More Veterans Could Get Covid-19 Vaccinations .Reducing prescription drug prices is a top issue for older voters. Seventy – two percent of survey participants support a proposal to tie Medicare Part D drugs prices to those paid in other industrialized nations, through the use of an "international drug pricing index" — an approach similar to prescription drug legislation passed by the House (H.R. 3). .Apply for Medicaid coverage while you wait. Check with a counselor at your local area Agency on Aging or local Medicaid department. Medicaid can take several months to start. .Oxford's study, however, found that the vaccine not only prevented severe disease but appeared to cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds. The study has not been peer-reviewed yet. .Your total earnings, including your earnings now until you stop working. .The cost of veterinarian services is growing nearly three times faster than Social Security benefits. While retirees are making do with a 1.6% COLA in 2020, veterinarian services increased 4.7% from January 2019 to January 2020. Over the same period, costs for physicians of human patients rose just 0.7%. .The 2017 COLA will likely be 0.3 percent says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst and researcher for TSCL. "And there's a chance that lower gas prices will drag the COLA down even further, to 0.2 percent," Johnson adds. Either way, the 2017 COLA is expected to raise Social Security benefits by only a few dollars, and any increase will be completely offset by stiff increases in the Medicare Part B premium for most people 65 and over.