News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending February 24 2012

    Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin said, "I have directed an immediate halt to further referrals under the Treasury Offset Program to recover debts owed to the agency that are 10 years old and older pending a thorough review of our responsibility and discretion under the current law." But a week after the announcement The Washington Post reported that "many taxpayers say the government is still seizing refunds." The Social Security Administration said letters to those taxpayers went out before the announcement, but it remains unclear whether they will get their money back. .Consequently, Social Security recipients with the lowest benefits may not see much of an increase at all after Medicare Part B premiums are deducted. Those with benefits of about 0 or less are at risk of seeing the Part B premiums consume their entire COLA, leaving nothing extra left over to deal with other rising costs. .The number of Medicare patients in observation stays has jumped 69% in the past five years, according to federal records. They are also staying in the hospital longer. Even though Medicare recommends that hospitals decide within 24 to 48 hours whether to admit or discharge patients, the number of observation stays exceeding 24 hours have nearly doubled. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending January 27 2017

    Some financial advisors say that there may be some tax advantages to taking money out now while valuations are lower. This information is not intended as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you contact the custodian of your 401(k) or your financial advisor and discuss a plan for your income needs and to explore potential sources of funds. .The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on nursing homes, leading to large numbers of residents and staff becoming become ill or dying. We hope that such catastrophes may help focus attention on long-term problems that plague these facilities. .Gang of Eight Defends Immigration Reform Plan … Continued

This is the same bill he introduced in 2019 which TSCL endorsed then and we have endorsed this new bill once again. .COLAs Reach All Time Lows At Same Time Seniors Report Expenses Higher Than Ever .The new guidance is as follows: .First, one new cosponsor – Representative Mike Bishop (MI-8) – signed on to the Audiology Patient Choice Act (H.R. 2276), bringing the total up to thirty-three. If adopted, H.R. 2276 would improve Medicare coverage for hearing services that are performed by licensed audiologists. Under current law, audiologists are not recognized as providers of health-related hearing services, and the Medicare program will only reimburse them for their services when patients are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners. ."We're not doing anything without a payroll tax cut," Trump said in a "virtual town hall" event hosted by Fox News at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington earlier this week. .The bill would reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to just four — 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent — and would keep the highest bracket at 39.6 percent. It also increases the standard deduction from ,350 (individuals)/,700 (married couples) to ,000 (individuals)/,000 (married couples). While the standard deduction would increase, taxpayers on the other hand would lose personal exemptions — the ones for themselves, a spouse and/or dependents, which currently are ,050 per person. Exemptions would be replaced with a 0 credit through 2022, and eliminated thereafter. .How accurate is it? .Medigap plans by law are now barred from offering drug coverage, and beneficiaries need to add "drug only" coverage to their Medicare supplement. .One of our purposes in visiting with those offices was to find out why they do not support the bill and to see if there is any hope that some compromise to the bill could be reached. The main reason they do not support the Grassley-Wyden bill is because it has a provision that they believe would, in essence, result in government price-setting of drug prices and would be a first step toward a one-payer (meaning government) health care system. Each office mentioned other bills that they might support but there is not one bill that the Republican majority is currently in favor of and that might have a chance to pass. It was also stated that because this is an election year there is a very short timeline for action to be taken.