News

  • Social Security Medicare Questions July 2012

    Nationwide, the picture is equally bleak, with more than 60 million Americans at risk of losing access to the rural hospitals that serve their families. What's worse – in order to prevent rural hospitals from closing under a Medicare-for-all regime, Medicare would have to increase hospital payments up to 60% higher than current Medicare rates. .Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod represents California's 35th Congressional District encompassing the communities of Bloomington, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, and portions of Fontana and Rialto. .If you have not filed a return for 2020, the IRS urges people with children to file one as soon as possible. Even if your grandson was not with you in 2020, eligible taxpayers have the opportunity to update information about changes in income, filing status or the number of qualifying children. The IRS is continuing to update information about this credit which can be found at: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021. … Continued

  • Benefit Bulletin July 2021

    Investigate national and community charitable programs and organizations. An excellent guide to Prescription Drug Assistance Programs is available from The American Cancer Society. Even if you don't have cancer, the information is pertinent to all drug assistance programs. For more information call 1-800-ACS-2345 or download the publication at http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/FindingandPayingforTreatment/ManagingInsuranceIssues/PrescriptionDrugAssistancePrograms/index .The President's favored nations rule has also upset conservative groups along with the industry and patient organizations. Some of those groups had launched a media campaign against the proposal before Trump actually announced it. . Paula chose to take the employer-provided Medicare supplement, dental and vision coverage at 6 per month, but "opted out" of the expensive Part D. Instead we found more reasonably priced drug coverage at .90 per month, and covering the prescriptions she currently took with no deductible, using the Medicare Drug Plan Finder at www.medicare.gov. … Continued

The Social Security COLA is calculated using the consumer price index. There are several of them, and the government uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Workers (CPI-W) to calculate the annual boost. That index, though, doesn't measure how people 62 and older spend their money. It measures how younger working adults do. Seniors, however, have different spending patterns, and have to spend a growing share of their budget on healthcare, which in most years outpaces overall inflation. .To identify people in the country illegally, Medicare relies on information from the Social Security Administration in order to deny claims. The Social Security Administration receives data from the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies but CMS doesn't always receive information relating to unlawful presence in a timely manner, according to the Inspector General. .Senate Committee Discusses Drug Costs .The new study takes a closer look at the Social Security "hold harmless" provision. Typically, Social Security benefits tend to grow slightly each year as COLAs compound over time. But when the Medicare premium increases more than an individual's COLA that can trigger this special provision of law. Hold harmless protects Social Security benefits when the dollar amount of an individual's annual COLA increase is not sufficient to cover the increase in the Medicare Part B premium increase. If the increase in Medicare Part B premium would cause an individual's net Social Security benefit to be less than it was the year before, then the Part B premium is reduced to ensure the individual's Social Security benefit does not decline. .Federal agencies shut down this week as Members of Congress failed to adopt a stopgap funding measure before the October 1st deadline. In addition, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw one key bill gain support. .The way to learn about your drug plan choices is to use the Medicare Drug Plan Finder at www.medicare.gov. You will need a complete up-to-date list of your current prescriptions. Correct spelling is essential. Using a computer, either you or a Medicare benefits counselor will input your information and prescription information. The Drug Plan Finder will pull up a list of all the plans in your area and the estimated costs for each based on the prescription you currently use. .On Tuesday, two Senate Committees – the Budget Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee – held confirmation hearings to question Congressman Mick Mulvaney (SC-5), who was nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. If confirmed, he would lead the office that develops the administration's federal budget and advises the White House on fiscal matters. .Recent proposals would provide "block grants" or cap federal funding for Medicaid and give states additional flexibility over how they run their programs. Under the budget plan passed by the House of Representatives, beginning in 2013, the state grants would increase annually at the rate of overall inflation, but that rate, as seniors are all too aware, is far below that of inflation for healthcare costs. Analysts say that, as a result, states that cannot keep up with the program costs, are likely to scale back coverage. TSCL believes that Congress should consider better options to ensure that the seniors who are dependent on long-term care services will be able to continue to rely on those services. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following a two-week spring recess and quickly began working on legislation to fund the federal government past Friday, April 28th. At the time of writing this week's update, a continuing resolution (CR) had not yet been adopted by either chamber, but votes are expected by Friday evening.