News

  • Q A January 2016

    Now there are ads in various parts of the country being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, accusing House Republicans of doing the bidding of drug industry donors by opposing the bill. Unremarked upon are the House Democrats who've also received money from the industry — and whose opposition is seen as potentially fatal to the legislation. .TSCL is very supportive of the PRIME Act, since we believe that the failure to manage fraud results in higher taxes for all and higher premiums for Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, at a time when many deficit hawks are considering cuts to programs like Medicare and Medicaid, we believe it is critically important to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. TSCL looks forward to working with the sponsors of the PRIME Act to help build support for it, and we are hopeful that Congress will pass it into law by the end of the 113th Congress. ."The group of Democrats blocked one committee from advancing their party's drug-pricing legislation, with two members arguing it was too far-reaching and could stymie innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Some of those Democrats also want to rein in a proposal to expand Medicare to include dental coverage, a high priority for progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)." … Continued

  • Congressional Corner Promises Made To Seniors Must Be Kept

    However, an estimated 15 million Medicare beneficiaries – including new enrollees, those who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, high-income beneficiaries, and beneficiaries who do not receive Social Security benefits – will see large premium and deductible hikes in January if Congress does not act before October 15th, less than one week from now. .Our legislative team was pleased to see the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act advance out of the Ways and Means Committee this week, and we will be sure to monitor its progress as it moves to the House floor. Leaders expect it to be taken up during the week of June 15th, and it is expected to pass there with bipartisan support as well. For updates on the status of H.R. 1190, visit the Legislative News section of our website. .(Washington, DC) – Seventy-eight percent of retirees think Congress should cap what Medicare beneficiaries must spend out-of-pocket on prescription drugs, according to new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Unlike other types of insurance, Medicare Part D has no annual out-of-pocket maximum. This leaves the sickest retirees spending hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in pharmacy costs for prescription medications every year. … Continued

Once the costs that both you and your drug plan have paid exceed the above limit, then you will pay 25% co-insurance for brand drugs in 2019, and your drug plan will pay 5%. There's a manufacturer discount of 70%. For generics, you will pay 37% and plans pay 63%. This phase of coverage — which is called the "doughnut hole" or coverage gap —lasts until you have a spent a total of ,100 out-of-pocket on prescription costs. Please note that what you pay in premiums does not count toward out-of-pocket costs. Once you have spent ,100, which counts the manufacturer discount portion of the drug cost in the doughnut hole, then you reach the Part D catastrophic threshold. Medicare pays 80%, plans pay 15% and enrollees pay the greater of either 5% of total drug costs or .40/.50 for each generic/brand-name drug respectively. .I turn 61 this year and I'm still employed. I've read about waiting until my full retirement age before starting Social Security benefits. Is that 66? Do I enroll in Medicare at the same time I start Social Security? .The IRS also issued similar warnings about coronavirus imposter scams related to stimulus checks, overdue payments, filing extensions and other tax related topics. .Here are some tips to identify false or misleading claims. .With that in mind we remind you that the Federal Trade Commission has warned that anybody offering a chance to jump ahead on the statewide priority list for a vaccination in exchange for money is a scammer. .Social Security was never designed to be the sole source of retirement income. It replaces around 40 percent of the average earnings of its beneficiaries. Pensions and savings form the two other major streams of retirement income, but people who retire with all three sources of retirement income are rare. Even worse, recent research from the National Institute of Retirement Security found that more than 40% of older adults have no retirement income other than Social Security. .The proposal to switch to the chained CPI has come up numerous times during past budget negotiations over lifting the federal debt limit. Most recently the proposal appeared last December in a 2016 House bill that would reform Social Security, and in an alternate fiscal year 2017 budget proposed by the Republican Study Committee. The proposal remains a key provision of debt reduction plans, because so many federal benefit programs and the tax code are adjusted using the CPI. The CPI-U has recently been proposed to index Medicaid payments in the Senate health bill. Economists have estimated that adopting the chained CPI would cut Social Security by 0 billion over ten years. .Third, the bipartisan CHANGE Act (H.R. 4957) gained one new cosponsor in Representative Ted Lieu (CA-33), bringing the total up to twenty-two. If adopted, the CHANGE Act would promote early identification of Alzheimer's disease, improve support for family caregivers, and provide continuous care for those battling many forms of dementia. .In addition, the Social Security 2100 Act would improve the program's solvency by applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000 and by gradually increasing the payroll tax rate from 6.2 percent to 7.4 percent – an extra fifty cents per week for the average worker. These two modest changes would ensure that the Social Security program remains solvent through the year 2100 and beyond.