"The drug is essential," Heyman testified. "People can die without it… The drug company deserves the right to make a profit. But it is unconscionable that one company, Valeant, can hold Wilson Disease patients hostage," she said in her testimony..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. Glenn Thompson signed on to the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act, bringing the total up to forty-nine. If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to comprehensively prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within the two programs a problem that TSCL believes must be addressed in order to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly..Reducing the taxation of Social Security benefits by increasing the income thresholds that subject Social Security benefits, from ,000 for single filers and ,000 for joint returns, to ,000 and 0,000 respectively..I've been listening to news stories about the Supreme Court case over the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law. Was Medicare affected in any way?.Since you were born in 1954, however, you qualify to use a "restricted application" strategy to maximize your benefits at full retirement age. Waiting just two more years could significantly boost lifetime Social Security income. People born after 1954 may no longer use this strategy, so consider this:.So, as we told you back on Sept. 29, "Don't Bet on 0 Drug Discount Card Just Yet.".Your own retirement benefit would be low if you were to take it at age 64 - prior to reaching your full retirement age. Full retirement age at which you start receiving full, unreduced benefits, is rising. For people born in 1956 your full retirement age is 66 and 4 months..In a message to Congress in 1945, President Truman said "Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and that protection." Twenty years later when President Johnson signed Medicare into law, he remarked on Truman "Many men can make many proposals. Many men can draft many laws. But few have the piercing and humane eye which can see beyond the words to the people that they touch […]And fewer still have the courage to stake reputation, and position, and the effort of a lifetime upon such a cause when there are so few that share it." I am honored to continue fighting for Truman and Johnson's visions as we look forward to another 50 years of Medicare..Medicare is trying to nudge people towards using less expensive older drugs, as this story describes. Most of us jump at the chance to lower our drug costs whenever we can, but sometimes the alternative may not work as well. If this happens to you, I strongly suggest that you take the letter from Medicare and show it to your doctor. I'm willing to bet your doctor won't be pleased to see Medicare "prescribing" other drugs for his or her patients.

Pedaling Your Way To Better Health

Washington, DC) An eye - popping new list compiled by The Senior Citizens League indicates that, by late 2020, price increases for many of the expenditures of older Americans far outstripped the modest 1.3 percent cost of living adjustment boost that Social Security recipients start receiving this month. "This list is a snapshot of how COVID-19 affected prices of certain items through the end of November 2020," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "There are surprising price aberrations that we haven't seen before," Johnson says. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that toilet paper and disinfecting wipes could wind up on our annual list of fastest growing retiree costs," Johnson says..Across the country Meals on Wheels programs are reducing the number of meals delivered to low-income seniors or shutting down altogether according to a new survey. The programs typically deliver a hot prepared meal five days a week to people over 60 who are homebound and/or unable to shop and cook, low income, or all three. Without Congressional action, the programs will be cut by about .7 million in federal funding this year due to the automatic budget cuts known as "sequester.".The House will also pursue legislation to strengthen the 2010 health care law, Hoyer said. "We've already passed bills on protecting preexisting conditions, but that was a very high priority for us, and we may do something else," he said. … Continued

Thrive Managing Your Mental Health During Covid19

Older Americans report that their household budgets jumped substantially last year despite the lack of growth in their Social Security benefits, according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League. "The gap between benefit growth and retiree costs was particularly pronounced due to rising prices of the most essential items in retirees' budgets, - medical and food costs," says TSCL's Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, Mary Johnson. TSCL today sent a letter to Congressional leaders calling upon them to enact legislation that would provide a modest boost to Social Security benefits..TSCL believes Congress will need to make some difficult spending cut decisions, and soon, in order to find the savings needed to address Medicare shortfalls, while ensuring access to doctors and adequate Medicare coverage without reducing benefits. Notch Babies who turn 85 to 94 this year are hit particularly hard because they are at the age when they are more likely to have chronic health conditions that require costly treatment..The CPI-E Act, if signed into law, would amend the Social Security Act with regard to the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Currently, the COLA is based upon the spending patterns of young, urban workers, but this legislation would calculate the COLA based on the spending patterns of seniors. … Continued

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