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..The "Gang of Eight's" proposal is now in the hands of the full Senate, and Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will bring the bill to the floor in June. Until then, TSCL will continue to monitor the evolving negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website..Nonetheless, The Senior Citizens League urges lawmakers to act responsibly and to fund the federal government immediately so that federal agencies can operate as smoothly as possible. In the days ahead, we will keep a close eye on the evolving negotiations, and we will continue to advocate for legislative solutions that would fully fund the federal government..Lowering drug prices is a singular area where bipartisan legislation could make it into law this year. On Monday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen in introduced legislation that would cut the cost of insulin by 75% compared with the level expected in 2020. The proposal would create a new pricing model that limits the use of rebates for Medicare Part D and the private insurance market, Sens. Tom Carper, Susan Collins and Kevin Cramer have already signed on as co-sponsors to the legislation..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..yourself. If you fall in between, consider looking into the coverage. They.How To Increase Medical Tax Deductions for Older Taxpayers.However, because Democratic control of Congress is so narrow, especially in the Senate but also in the House, the chances of passing anything this year remain uncertain, at best. Democrats are divided in what they want to accomplish so coming up with a majority in the House has been a struggle. Without complete Democratic unity in the Senate nothing can pass there..TSCL questions whether the more widespread use of subjective criteria in disability determinations may be contributing to disability fraud. Recently, 134 people, including retired New York City police officers and firefighters, were charged in one of the largest disability frauds on record. Those indicted were charged with faking mental disabilities, like post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from responding to the 911 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits.
