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  • Medicare Part D Will Cost Me More 2 Feed

    Trump Issues Executive Order on Prescription Drugs .In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home states and districts. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) encourages its members and supporters to attend these events and to ask questions about their Social Security and Medicare benefits, such as the following … .Growing numbers of seniors are working longer, and delaying the start of benefits. According to a TSCL survey conducted early this year, 42 percent of seniors who are still working say they plan to delay the start of benefits until age 66 or thereafter. Those who continue to work, continue to pay Social Security, Medicare and other taxes as well. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner November 2017

    Get unbiased counseling. NEVER, EVER drop your Medicare supplemental or switch Medicare Advantage plans based solely on the sales pitch of an insurance agent! This is especially true if the agent is trying to pitch you from a table set up in a discount store, or pharmacy window. DO NOT do business at all with anyone who calls on the phone or knocks on your door, regardless of who they say they are. There have been very widespread reports of con artists who tell seniors they are calling from Medicare or Social Security. You have no safe way of confirming who they are. Don't respond. Hang up and keep your doors locked! . Check to see if Eliquis is covered by your drug plan and the cost sharing for the tier in which it is listed. Many drug plans have five tiers covering preferred generics, generics, preferred brands, non-preferred brands and specialty drugs. Check to see where Eliquis fits in on these tiers (probably preferred or non-preferred brand). It's not uncommon for insurers to move a drug from preferred brand to non-preferred brand status, causing you to pay more out-of-pocket. For example, your plan in 2019 may have charged a co-pay of for preferred brands, but if Eliquis was moved into a non-preferred tier in 2020 you might have to pay 50% co-insurance or about 5.00. .It turns out than among seniors who are not vaccinated, the biggest problem may be access to the vaccine as opposed to opposition to getting the shot. … Continued

Members of Congress receive their benefits through the District of Columbia's small business health options program (SHOP) exchange that was established under the 2010 health law. Effective January 1, 2014, Members of Congress had to give up their previous health benefits received through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and get their insurance through the exchange. However, they remain eligible for employer contributions from the federal government (i.e., U.S. taxpayers) toward coverage, just as they previously received for their FEHB coverage. ."Most people 65 and over take more than one prescription drug, so to get the lowest-costing plan that's right for you, people need to do a drug plan comparison based on all the drugs they currently take, " Johnson explains. "In addition, you should carefully compare prices at network retail pharmacies as well as mail order — those prices can also vary significantly," Johnson notes. .Case 2— A man born in Mexico worked under his father's SSN for 9 years and then had these wages transferred when he acquired his own SSN before collecting retirement benefits. From 1999 to 2002 he collected approximately ,441 in retirement benefits, including benefits for dependents based on his account. Estimated benefits over 20 years — ,300. .Managing the cost of pet care grows more emotionally and financially challenging as we and our pets age. The cost of care often sets up ethical dilemmas, especially for older adults facing unfunded gaps in retirement income. .(Washington, DC) – Older Americans are not to blame for an exploding federal budget deficit warns The Senior Citizens League. "Congress can't cut taxes by an estimated .7 trillion and then turn around and blame rising deficits on ‘entitlements' and aging," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. .Out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs was the fastest rising expense of retirees from 2000 to 2019, according to a recent study of retiree costs by TSCL. While the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increased Social Security benefits by 50 percent over the period, out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs rose more than five times faster — 253%. .This week, discussions to fund the federal government past September 30th – the end of the fiscal year – seemed to stall. Leaders in the House and Senate told reporters last week that they planned to take up a short-term continuing resolution (CR) by September 21st. However, this week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said many important details remain up in the air, and the timeline has shifted. .Be suspicious of products that claim to treat a wide range of diseases. .Yet since 2010, when the Social Security Trust Fund first started running a cash deficit, budget negotiators have repeatedly attempted to enact Social Security reforms that would decrease benefits. One of the most widely - discussed proposals would switch to a more slowly - growing inflation measure — the chained consumer price index (CPI) — to calculate the annual cost – of – living adjustment as a means of slowing the growth of Social Security benefits and other inflation - adjusted federal programs. Although the proposal was not adopted in the past, primarily due to fear of public backlash, "It remains a key feature in many plans for reducing the deficit," Johnson says.