News

  • Thieves Stealing Social Security Disability Benefits While Insolvency Looms

    The situation that we all are in is precarious, and that includes the worldwide supply chain for prescription drugs. (More on that in a minute.) You need immediate help and here's a check list of what I suggest you try: .TSCL is a strong supporter of H.R. 973, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week. .Planning healthcare costs is extremely important, but not an easy task. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, healthcare expenses, on average, accounted for nearly 15 percent of Medicare household budgets in 200But even if you're in good health today, you're not out of the woods. The amount you spend on healthcare not only grows every year, but your need for more healthcare services increases with age. … Continued

  • Legislative Updates Colas And Medicare Premiums

    Now Congressional Democrats, while only having a razor-thin majority in the Senate, are planning a major push to include in measures to lower drug prices in upcoming legislation meant to rebuild the U.S. infrastructure. .Background Information: Social Security beneficiaries received another record-low cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of just 0.3% this year. But if the COLA were based on a more accurate measure of inflation for seniors like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), they would be receiving an increase of 2.1% according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Question: Do you support legislation that would give older Americans a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA? .Medicare Advantage — Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are popular because they tend to have much lower, or even zero premiums. In addition, many MA plans offer drug coverage. These plans may have deductibles, and charge co-pays for most services, leaving you at risk of more in out-of-pocket costs when you use services. Starting in 2011 for the first time, all plans include a limit on out-of-pocket spending that cannot exceed ,700. … Continued

The "lame duck" session of Congress began this week, and leaders in the House and Senate are hard at work on an omnibus measure that would fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. Passing an omnibus in December, according to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (KY-5), would allow the new Congress to "get old business behind [it] and start off with a clean slate in January." .Super-Committee Republicans offer a 300 billion dollar tax-revenue concession. After an initial pledge not to raise taxes over the next decade, Republicans are willing to allow tax increases to help meet the 1.2 trillion dollar debt-reduction mandate by November 23rd. .The Senate Finance Committee recently passed The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act out of committee and now it heads to the floor for further action. The bill, which has support of both Democrats and Republicans would, among other things, cap drug prices based on the rate of inflation. .Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) introduced S. 569 on March 14, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Finance. .This issue has just popped up and TSCL will be in contact with members of Congress to do all we can to prevent these looming cuts and we will keep you advised as to how things are going. .If signed into law, H.R. 973 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – two federal provisions that unfairly reduce or eliminate the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. .What Could A COLA of No Less Than 3 Percent Mean For You? .On top of unexpected coverage shortfalls, TSCL's 2017 annual Survey of Senior Costs indicates that homeowners' insurance was the fastest growing housing cost over the past year. In fact, since 2000, the national average homeowners premium rose 154%, a rate of about 9.6% per year! .Nine prominent physician groups recently released lists of 45 common tests and treatments they say are often unnecessary. The problem is costing you dearly — as much as one third of every healthcare dollar, researchers say. As someone supposed to be giving you tips on how to save money, I'm embarrassed to admit that earlier this year I was a victim of overzealous medical testing. I'm not on Medicare yet, but what happened to me is happening to millions of those of you who are.