This week, a bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter to the White House urging executive action on prescription drug prices. In addition, two key bills gained support in the House..I lost my job a few months ago and at age 64, recently started Social Security retirement benefits. I just found out that I can work and still receive benefits at the same time. Can you tell me how this works? I thought you could lose your Social Security check?.When the Social Security Administration receives wage reports from employers with Social Security numbers and names that don't match those on file, the reports go into an Earnings Suspense File until they can be reconciled with the rightful owner -- which can occur years later when an application for benefits is received. Over the past ten years for which data is available the Social Security Administration has received, on average, more than 9.5 million suspicious wage reports annually representing more than billion per year in wages. "And it's the wages that are used to determine benefits, not the amount of taxes paid in," Hyland notes..Tim Kaine is a United States Senator from Virginia. In the Senate he is a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. He is one of 30 people in American history to have served as a Mayor, Governor, and United States Senator..TSCL does not make campaign contributions because we are funded by our supporters like you, and we simply don't have the millions of dollars like drug companies do. Instead, we rely on you and your vote. Elected officials care about money, but they care even more about your vote..Under Medicare Part D, the government does not negotiate prices like it does for doctors' or hospital fees. Drug prices are established by the private insurers who run Part D drug plans. Those prices are based on what the plans negotiate with drug manufacturers and what drug plans want to make on the drugs in order to operate at a profit. Under current law, however, even when drug plans negotiate a rebate, the law does not require that plans pass the savings along to consumers..TSCL believes modestly higher retirement benefits are needed by a majority of people at or nearing retirement. A number of national studies indicate that millions of older Americans are entering retirement without the financial resources to cover retirements that may stretch 30 years or more. A 2015 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that says about one - half of households 55 and older have no retirement savings, and many of those that do run the risk of falling short of income..It is time to invest in these essential caregivers and our seniors. It is for this reason that I introduced H.R. 4445, the Improving Care for Vulnerable Older Citizens through Workforce Advancement Act of 201The bill would amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish six, three-year demonstration projects to test models of care using direct-care workers in advanced roles. These demonstrations would focus on care coordination and improved delivery of health services for older adults with chronic illness or at-risk of re-hospitalization. Two projects would train DCWs to take on increased responsibilities related to caring for patients with specific diseases, including Alzheimer's, dementia, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. Two additional projects would include DCWs as members of interdisciplinary care coordination teams and use their abilities to promote smooth transitions in care. The final two would use DCWs to monitor patient health status, help consumers follow prescribed care, and educate consumers and family caregiver..While the Social Security hold harmless provision provides important protection from Social Security reductions, more money is required to catch up to Medicare Part B levels in following years. If COLAs continue to remain low, premiums would adjusted again due to low COLAs. COLAs would have to be substantially higher in following years or the whole process would happen all over again.
