View the TSCL home page to participate in TSCL's monthly polls..According to an article in Statnews.com, "It is looking increasingly like the U.S. may not experience a flu season this year. To date, fewer than 1,600 people in the entire country have tested positive for influenza since the 2020-2021 flu monitoring period began last October; of those, 32 were recorded in the week ending Feb. 2Most flu seasons, somewhere between 100 and 200 children die from flu; so far this season there has been a single pediatric flu death. Experts believe mask wearing, social distancing, and enhanced hand hygiene practices adopted for Covid-19 control are contributing to the low numbers of circulating flu viruses.".Now, when the husband receives his valid Social Security number, he has already worked 12 years and would be eligible to file a claim for Social Security benefits in the future. If he kept copies of the W2s with the phony number, he can file a claim for retirement benefits as early as age 62, or disability benefits sooner, if he meets the medical and other criteria. At 65, or two years after becoming disabled, he would also qualify for Medicare. In addition to a retirement or disability benefit of his own, his spouse, his ex-wife, and children may also become entitled to benefits on his account as well..TSCL is happy to announce that one key piece of legislation gained support in the House of Representatives this week. The Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act gained a new cosponsor in Representative Pete Visclosky, bringing the total up to twenty. If signed into law, H.R. 1776 would require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, accelerate the closing of the Part D "doughnut hole," and cap monthly prescription drug expenses at 0, among other things..The people who are not covered by hold harmless include higher income beneficiaries, beneficiaries who have not started Social Security yet and who pay for Medicare by check, and about 19% of beneficiaries whose incomes are so low that their state Medicaid program pays their Medicare Part B premiums on their behalf..Second, one new cosponsor Representative Sean Patrick Maloney signed on to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, bringing the total up to twenty. This bill, if adopted, would reduce prescription drug prices for older Americans by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower covered Medicare Part D drug prices on behalf of beneficiaries..TSCL agrees with Congressman Garamendi, and we hope to see his CPI-E Act signed into law before the end of the 115th Congress. For more information on H.R. 1251, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. To read The Senior Citizens League's Loss of Buying Power study, click HERE..Even with the vaccine there is still a 1 in 20 chance of getting the virus. The vaccine will prevent the symptoms of the virus from occurring. In other words, it will prevent you from becoming sick, or at least horribly sick. But you could still carry the virus and pass it on to others who are not yet vaccinated..TSCL Believes Benefits At Stake
