News

  • Totalization Agreement Feed

    Senate Committees Question OMB Nominee .The Social Security Administration also announced on Thursday that the Social Security payroll tax cap will rise from 8,400 in 2018 to 2,900 in 201Most American workers contribute 6.2 percent of every paycheck to the Social Security program, but high earners will stop contributing to the program once they reach 2,900 in income next year. That means the wealthiest American CEOs – many of whom are billionaires – will be finished paying into the Social Security program just a few hours or days into 2019. .Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. … Continued

  • The Senior Citizens League Weekly Update December 6 2019

    Of particular importance is the portion of income that seniors and the disabled must spend on each particular category. Under the CPI-W, out-of-pocket medical costs are weighted or assumed to account for only 5.6% of total expenditures. National surveys indicate that Medicare beneficiaries spend far more. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that median out-of-pocket health care spending as a share of income for Medicare beneficiaries was about 16.2% by 2006. .Before recommending the zero premiums, I helped Paula estimate potential costs. New managed care Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare supplements by charging co-payments that can be substantial for each hospitalization, visit to the doctor, or other service received. Supplements tend to charge high premiums, but cover most, or all, of the co-insurance costs, leaving beneficiaries to pay little or nothing when they receive a service. If Paula had to be hospitalized or developed a serious illness, the co-payments charged by the Medicare Advantage plan could quickly add up to be just as much, possibly more, than what she would pay in premiums for her state retiree Medicare supplement. .And, given the unfunded mandates and billions of dollars in regulatory costs from Obamacare – the last attempt at government-controlled healthcare, Medicare-for-all would undoubtedly break the back of at least half of our rural health care providers. … Continued

Now I say neglect, because it's been 38 years since Congress has done anything to strengthen Social Security and 50 year since we have improved its benefits. .Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was the Senate Majority Leader at that time, refused to even bring the bill up for a vote on the Senate floor. .Genetic testing is not routinely used by doctors to screen for cancer. Here's how the scam works— The "target" (that's anyone close to age 65 and up) might receive automated phone calls, often multiple times a week, or may be approached in-person by a "recruiter." The recruiter, who may present herself as a "certified Medicare counselor," convinces the target to take a genetic test promising that Medicare pays the full cost. The patient, however, often never receives a report, or the report may be incomprehensible. .Why does decision making have to be so hard? How much time is the right amount to spend on thinking things over? Can you even name anyone who never made a bad decision? We can't either. .And, in case you had any doubts about why you need that Medicare Advantage plan in the first place, here are the general types of costs if you have Medicare Advantage plan coverage compared with having traditional Medicare with a Medigap supplement. .Use a consumer price index that better reflects the costs of retirees — the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). .It closed the Medicare outpatient therapy cap. Before the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act, Medicare coverage for various forms of outpatient therapy – including physical therapy and speech therapy – was arbitrarily capped at ,500 per year. For years, lawmakers sought to repeal this cap since it limited the care older Americans could receive under Medicare. TSCL advocated tirelessly for Congressman Erik Paulsen's (MN-3) bipartisan Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act (H.R. 807), and we were thrilled that a similar provision was included in this year's bipartisan budget agreement, repealing the therapy cap once and for all. .Require Medicare beneficiaries to pay a higher portion of the Part B premium. Premiums for Part B cover physician and hospital outpatient services. The premiums of most seniors, those with incomes under ,000, equal 25 percent of Medicare's total cost of services, and the federal government covers the other 75 percent of the cost. This proposal would require seniors to pay 35 percent instead - like higher-income seniors do now. The 2010 Medicare Trustee report estimates that Part B premiums at the 35% level would be 9.30 per month in 2012. .On Thursday, lawmakers in the House began considering legislation (H.R. 1190) to repeal the IPAB, the unelected 15-member board that was created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to manage Medicare's growth. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the bill with a vote of 31-8 two weeks ago, and earlier this week it was approved by the House Rules Committee.