News

  • Majorities Of Democrats And Republicans Want Government Action To Lower Prescription Drug Prices

    Susan has rheumatoid arthritis and was taking Humira, a drug that would cost more than ,000 out-of-pocket if she had to purchase it through a Part D plan. Prior to starting Medicare, she paid a .00 per month co-pay for Humira through her husband's insurance. Before starting on Medicare though, Susan decided to try a less expensive older generic, Methotrexate, which costs just .00 per month through her Part D plan. .Lowering drug prices is one of the highest priorities of TSCL and we will be working very hard to get legislation passed this year. .As we have written recently, Grassley's main problem in getting his bill passed in the Senate is opposition from his fellow Republicans. Grassley said he needs at least 25 Republican co-sponsors to get his bill (S. 2543) to the floor of the Senate for a vote. Ten Republicans other than Grassley have so far made public shows of support for the legislation. … Continued

  • Legislative Update January 2014

    Social Security policy analyst and Advisor editor Mary Johnson finds the average monthly rate of increase for the past 12 months. This rate of inflation is added to the current month, and each subsequent month through to September, in order to project inflation in those months. The SSA's COLA formula takes the third quarter data (July/August/September) and finds the average for the quarter. That is then compared that with the third quarter average from one year ago, and the percentage of difference is determined. That percentage of difference is the amount that the COLA would increase. .It makes no sense for the Social Security Administration to allow Social Security numbers older than 112 to remain active indefinitely, without investigating the status of the beneficiary. The oldest verified lifespan of any individual to have ever lived is 124. .As we have previously written, there is a bill that has passed out of the Senate Finance Committee called the Grassley-Wyden bill but Senator McConnell also refuses to bring that bill to the floor for consideration. The Grassley-Wyden bill is co-sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR). … Continued

Advocates for less government involvement in health care and instead letting the free market have a stronger role base their arguments on the idea that just like groceries or cars or clothes, consumers should be able to shop around and look for the best value in health care. .While the reasons for that are still being explored, it is likely the wearing of masks, frequent hand washing and staying away from crowds contributed to those results. .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. .The CBO also notes that increasing the payroll tax rate or subjecting more earnings to the payroll tax could improve Social Security's financing. .Nineteen percent (19%) have postponed filling one or more prescriptions due to quarantine or emergency orders to stay home. .First, one new cosponsor – Representative Greg Walden (OR-2) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), bringing the total up to 19If adopted, the Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. .Last week White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows announced that President Trump would soon be signing three executive orders regarding prescription drug prices. While he did not provide any further information the Washington Post published an article about what one of the orders is likely to be. .Services must be those that have earned an "A" or "B" recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. They include: annual wellness visit, blood tests for heart disease, bone mass measurements, diabetes screening, colon cancer screening, diabetes screening, flu shot, hepatitis B vaccine, medical nutrition therapy, pap smears, pelvic exams and clinical breast exams, pneumonia vaccine, prostate cancer screening (PSA test), and screening mammograms. .Here's how it works: If Medicare spending exceeds certain growth rates, the 15-member board must make recommendations to Congress to rein in spending. If Congress fails to respond by passing cost-cutting measures of their own, the board's recommendations would be automatically implemented.