On Friday, lawmakers in the House and Senate prepared to return to their home states and districts for a week-long recess. They are scheduled to be back in Washington on Monday, May 7th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings..Congress Passes Defense Bill but President Trump says He Will Veto.This cost shift hits includes retirees with the lowest incomes. Specifically it hits their state Medicaid budgets that pay Part B premiums for low-income Medicare beneficiaries - about 19% of all Medicare recipients. If Medicare Part B premiums go up by more than .40 per month in 2021, that would add yet another fiscal shock to state budgets that are already strained to the limit due to the coronavirus pandemic..Unfortunately, for too many members of our communities, that's exactly what is happening, and it's something that I hear about far too often. Millions of seniors across the country, including my own mother, have been the victims of financial scams and they are being cheated out of their rightful retirement..In a statement, Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League said this week: "This could be particularly problematic for older, low-income Americans who represent a disproportionate share of Medicaid spending … Capping and adjusting payments to states would take benefits away from millions of low-income families, including disabled and older Americans in nursing homes, all to pay for massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest U.S. households.".As was noted in last week's update, the AHCA would reform the current health system and negatively impact older Americans in several ways. It would restructure the Medicaid program, which funds nursing home care for many qualified Medicare beneficiaries. It would base premium subsidies on age instead of income, while allowing private health insurers to charge older Americans five times more than they charge younger folks for their coverage. And it would deplete Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by eliminating two revenue sources that the ACA created, creating a funding crisis for the program..Such a minimum guarantee would go a long way to protect beneficiaries in years when there is no COLA. Had such a 3% minimum COLA guarantee been in effect since 2009, the average benefit of ,075 in 2009 would be 5 per month/ ,580 year higher today - about 18%. A minimum COLA would also eliminate the problem of benefits remaining flat for years, at a time during periods when Medicare Part B premiums increase more than the COLA raises benefits..Why is it so Hard to Lower Prescription Drug Prices?.A second strategy that was changed permitted married couples who reached full retirement age to file a "restricted application" which allowed individuals to collect only a spousal benefit, while their own benefits continued to increase. Unlike file and suspend, this change applies to people younger than age 62 by the end of 2015, so you still can take advantage of some planning to maximize what you get.
