News

  • H R 2154 Cpi For Seniors Act

    This week, TSCL delivered letters to several leaders in Congress – including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY), House Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-1), and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (NC-11) – urging immediate action on the looming debt ceiling crisis. .In mid-December there were reports that the Administration expected to begin sending out President Trump's promised 0 drug discount cards to seniors by Jan. However, we have not heard any report about whether or not that has begun. We will keep you posted when there is new information about the distribution of the cards. .Only a little more than half of the nation's nursing homes had received inspections, according to data released earlier this month, which prompted Medicare and Medicaid chief Seema Verma to direct that states complete the checks by July 31 or risk losing federal recovery funds. … Continued

  • Notch Bulletin Not Even A Lump Sum Death Benefit Feed

    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. .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. .Instead they learned they received observation care, which is considered an outpatient service, and is billed under Medicare Part B. With that designation, patients can have higher out-of-pocket costs even though they may have the very same health problems as people admitted as inpatients. … Continued

Despite the new endorsement from the Freedom Caucus, leaders in the House do not yet have the votes needed to win passage. On Thursday evening, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) told reporters, "We've been making great progress, and when we have the votes we'll vote on it." .This week, TSCL's legislative team, which is led by former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, met with several Members of Congress and their top staff to discuss issues of critical importance to seniors. The following bills, among others, were discussed this week: the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), the CPI for Seniors Act (H.R. 2154), the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1795), the Notch Fairness Act (H.R. 155), the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act (H.R. 2745), and the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (H.R. 574). .The House-passed bill eliminates the medical expense deduction, which approximately 5 million taxpayers over the age of sixty-five rely upon when their out-of-pocket medical costs total more than 10 percent of their annual income. The elimination of this deduction would be a catastrophic financial loss for those who find themselves in need of costly in-home or nursing home care. Congressman Kevin Brady (TX-8) – the chairman of the bicameral conference committee – said this week that he hopes to keep the deduction in place, but discussions remain up in the air. .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). .Nineteen percent (19%) postponed filling one or more prescriptions due to price spikes caused by coronavirus shortages or supply chain disruptions. .By Mike Watson, TSCL Legislative Assistant, .Offsets Complicate SGR Talks .The decision on when to start benefits is complicated and you should get counseling. The Social Security Administration website has a great deal of information on survivor's benefits at www.socialsecurity.gov as well as contact numbers to reach counselors. For more information about working after starting benefits see How Work Affects Your Benefits Publication Number 05-10069. .After being suspended since November 2, 2015, the debt cap was reinstated last week. "Although the Treasury secretary is using ‘extraordinary measures' to fund the budget for now, a failure to lift the debt limit in time would affect all Americans, including the timely payment of Social Security benefits," says TSCL Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, Mary Johnson.