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The rapid growth in Medicare Part B costs is consuming an increasing share of beneficiaries' income. What proposals do you support to slow the growth in the out-of-pocket costs?."Depending on how long it takes one's retirement savings to recover, the 2020 coronavirus recession could have a deep and life changing impact on the retirement security of older Americans," says Johnson whose own retirement savings were negatively impacted by the Great Recession of 2007- 0"Those who have lost significant sums might plan to work longer and retire later if they can," says Johnson. "Those who were working and have lost a job and their employer - provided healthcare coverage may wind up working for lower earnings, and could potentially experience worse health," she notes..By Jarrad Hensley, TSCL Legislative Assistant.TSCL is strongly opposed to plans to "chain the COLA." Such a switch has been estimated to reduce Social Security benefits by about 7% over a 30-year retirement. An average benefit of ,300 in 2017 would be about 5 per month less at the end of the period than it would be using the current CPI. An index that causes higher taxes, and lower retirement benefits, make the chained CPI a bad deal for older Americans.."It's highly disturbing that such a large number of survey participants have been forced to access food pantries," Johnson says. "This illustrates the dire situation faced by households of those who depend on Social Security for most of their income when food prices jump into overdrive," she says. "Over the past 12 months, the price of bacon is up 11 percent, beef up 10.6 percent and fresh fish up 8.5 percent" Johnson notes..Although the new tax law almost doubles the standard deduction, and increases the deduction for taxpayers over the age of 65, The Senior Citizens League still encourages older taxpayers to compile and check medical and other deductible expenses before automatically taking the new standard deduction. The Senior Citizens League is working for passage of legislation that would lower or eliminate the taxation Social Security benefits, and strengthen Social Security for all..Sen. Lindsey Graham said, "I do believe we should be helping people on Social Security because the price of food has gone up and I don't see any end in sight," he said. "A payment to Social Security recipients who are on fixed income of ,000 and below might make sense."."The measure would generally limit surprise billing in the following circumstances:.Rep. Charles Gonzalez introduced H.R. 456 on January 26, 201It has since been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

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Nonetheless, TSCL will keep a close eye on the bill's movement in the coming weeks, since it could have a significant impact on the Social Security and Medicare programs. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website..The COLA is calculated using data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Of the CPI groups that the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures, the CPI-W covers only 28% of the total U.S. population, and specifically excludes households "with no one in the labor force, such as retirees.".Addressing prescription drug prices is also one of my top priorities as Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The Committee launched a comprehensive investigation of the prescription drug industry's pricing practices in January of this year, focusing on the drugs that are the costliest to Medicare. In January I convened the Committee's first hearing of the 116th Congress on this topic, inviting AARP's National Volunteer President to testify about the challenges seniors face in affording their drugs. … Continued

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Although Social Security recipients didn't receive an annual cost of living adjustment this year, many are reporting that their costs are rising, and household budgets are getting squeezed, says The Senior Citizens League. Donna C. of New York, recently wrote to TSCL saying, "No inflation? Are you serious? What about the price of electricity, food, drugs, local taxes? All, going up. We can barely survive now, and you say there's no inflation? Who figures this stuff out and who decides?" she asks..Compare plans: Once you have entered all the information you will get your results. The results are available for both 2012 and 2013, but check and see which you are looking at. You first should compare how your current coverage is changing for 201You will also be surprised by what a difference a year makes in your lowest cost plan from 2012 to 201When making comparisons, check all the details. The results page allows you to compare up to three plans side by side. This is enormously helpful when juggling so many plans and details. Check the boxes of three you would like to compare. When comparing health plans, for example, you will see links to health plan benefits, drug costs and coverage, and plan ratings. Click each and print out results..It also seems to be a more severe flu strain than the seasonal flu which means more people require greater medical care. For most people this flu is survivable but without the extra medical care that someone might normally need they may succumb to it. … Continued