News

  • 2016 Shopping Medicare Coverage First Time

    When the pandemic hit early last year, seniors became more susceptible than ever to scams, because of the increased digitization of our daily lives. Newly-available resources are now being used as bait, and already existing scam techniques have unfortunately adapted to fit the pandemic narrative. .Medicare supplements tend to have higher premiums than Medicare Advantage plans, but will cover most, or even all of your out-of-pocket costs, depending on which policy "A" –"N" that you choose. Medicare Advantage plans have lower premiums, but you instead pay co-pays for every service. If you get sick or you are hospitalized, your out-of-pocket costs could be thousands of dollars. But unlike Medicare alone, Medicare Advantage plans have annual out-of-pocket maximums to cap what you pay. Those maximums average ,332 in 2017 but can be as high as ,700. .Anthony Cummings, a fugitive on the run from a child rape indictment in Georgia, improperly collected thousands of dollars in Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) payments until the law finally caught up with him. The SSI program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), will continue to pay fugitives at least million annually unless state fugitive files can be used to prevent such payments, the agency`s Inspector General recently warned. Auditors estimate that fugitives have collected between 8 million and 0 million in SSI benefits over the past four years. The SSA hopes to negotiate agreements by July to obtain fugitive records from all states. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending March 27 2015

    Last fall, as part of his deficit reduction plan, President Obama recommended charging a 30 percent surcharge on Part B premiums to new beneficiaries who purchase Medigap polices with "near first-dollar" coverage. But do Medigap supplements encourage the over use of services? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 20% of Medicare beneficiaries have a Medigap policy and they paid an average of 8 per month for premiums in 2010 (premiums vary significantly). People purchase the policies specifically to protect against the considerable costs that Medicare does not cover, and to help keep budgets in retirement years more predictable. They have modest incomes, but don't qualify for Medicaid. About 66% have incomes below ,000 and nearly 31% have incomes below ,000. .For more information or to view a list of cosponsors, click here. .The bill now moves on to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for a markup, and later it will likely move to the House Ways and Means Committee, where more offsets will be added. Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate hope to repeal and replace the SGR before January 1st – if they fail to act, doctors who treat Medicare patients will see a 25 percent pay cut. TSCL was pleased to see the subcommittee's bill progress this week, and we are hopeful that Members of Congress will pass a permanent solution before the end of this year in order to preserve seniors' access to quality medical care. As the negotiations evolve, we will continue to post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. … Continued

Use of a consumer price index (CPI) that does not reflect the costs experienced by retirees to calculate the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) suppresses the amount of lifetime Social Security income received. It reduces your Social Security benefit payments by thousands of dollars over the course of a retirement. .Sources: "Divided Deficit Panel OKs Proposal," John Maggs, Politico, December 3, 20"The Moment of Truth" The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, December 2010. .(Washington, DC) – Medicare doesn't have the authority to negotiate drug prices, leaving millions of older Americans at risk of price gouging for their prescription drugs, according to a new comparison of drug plans by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). "Because Medicare isn't negotiating on our behalf, there's no consistency in drug pricing among drug plans," states TSCL's Medicare policy analyst, Mary Johnson, who performed the comparisons using the Medicare website's Drug Plan Finder. Costs vary enormously between plans. "The disparity in pricing for the same drug can be in the hundreds of dollars," says Johnson. .There are 1,313,935 active members/supporters. .This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for two key bills that would strengthen the Social Security program. First, one new cosponsor – Representative Peter Visclosky (IN-1) – signed on to the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act (H.R. 2302), bringing the total up to eight cosponsors. .TSCL would like to thank Reps. Mike McIntyre (NC-7), G.K. Butterfield (NC-1), and Charles Gonzalez (TX-20) for taking the time to discuss the issues that are most important to our members and supporters. TSCL also met with Jeremy House, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Butterfield, Conrad Risher, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Gonzalez, Tommy Walker, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1), Rebecca Shaw, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Chris Gibson (NY-20), and Nathaniel Ferguson, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-2). .How You Can Get Help With Heating Costs .TSCL is contacting Members of Congress to make them aware of the likelihood that the COLA in 2021 could be one of the lowest ever paid, and to propose an emergency COLA of 2.5%. We drew the 2.5% from the current estimated Social Security baseline budget produced by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In January, the CBO estimated that the 2021 COLA would be 2.5%, thus providing an emergency COLA of that amount is already factored into Social Security Trust Fund calculations. .Budget Chair Revives Fiscal Commission Plan