"My brother ran a restaurant in Springfield, and he said the most lucrative part of their business was the private room that was reserved by pharmaceutical companies four nights a week," McCaskill said. "The wine consumed was unbelievably expensive, the dinners were unbelievably expensive. Now, I've got to tell you I don't think that most Americans think that's about patients first. That's about lobbying.".The Social Security Administration announced today that the 2020 COLA will be just 1.6 percent, continuing the worrisome trend in which COLAs have averaged just 1.4 percent from 2000 to 20"Adequate COLAs are critical to retirement security," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "Social Security is one of the only types of retirement income that provides this essential protection against rising costs. "When a retiree's costs rise faster than their COLA, the buying power of Social Security benefits erodes, leaving people with a benefit that doesn't go as far as it did when they first retired," Johnson notes. According to research by Johnson, Social Security benefits have lost 33 percent of buying power since 2000..Preliminary Analysis of the Rivlin-Ryan Health Care Proposal, Congressional Budget Office, November 17, 2010..On Wednesday, with a vote of 21-3, the Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of advancing the nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed as Secretary, Burwell will oversee the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs, and she will also manage the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act..Most Americans contribute 6.2% of every paycheck to Social Security, but due to the taxable maximum earnings cap, wealthy individuals earning more than 8,500 pay nothing above that amount. Do you support increasing or eliminating the maximum taxable earnings limit to make the program more solvent?.Late enrollment penalties are not like one-time tax penalties. Under the late enrollment penalty your monthly Part B premium may go up 10% for each full 12-month period that you delayed enrollment, and you pay the higher premiums for the rest of the time you receive Medicare..Split your pills if you can: You can further cut your costs in half by splitting your pills in half. Ask your doctor if pill splitting would work with your prescriptions. Your doctor would need to write a prescription with a dosage twice as high as you normally take. You can readily find inexpensive pill splitters at your pharmacy. If you do split your pills, make sure your family and emergency caregivers also know! Carefully label all prescriptions that require splitting..Retirees are rightfully anxious about financing healthcare in retirement. Some retirement experts estimate that a 65 - year - old couple who retired in 2016 would need 0,000 for medical expenses throughout retirement and 0,000 if you include the costs of long-term care..The TSCL poll found seniors were closely split over the two other leading approaches to address the disability program's solvency. Forty-eight percent favored tightening Social Security's disability eligibility requirements and conducting more annual eligibility reviews to reduce fraud. Fifty-one percent favor requiring high wage earners to pay Social Security taxes on all of their incomes. "TSCL believes that the only way Congress will forge an agreement is through bipartisan efforts that use a combination of the two approaches," Cates states. What do you think about issues affecting seniors? Take a poll. Visit TSCL's website at.

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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...If you are under full retirement age for all of 2009, the Social Security Administration will withhold in benefits for every in earnings over ,160 for the year or ,180 per month. People who turn full retirement age in 2009 may earn more. The Social Security Administration will deduct in benefits for every over ,680 for the year or ,140 per month. The amount that you are allowed to earn is adjusted annually. Once you reach full retirement age, you may receive your benefits with no limit on the amount you can earn. … Continued

For Medical Professionals Patient Education

Some agree with the President's stimulative plans, however, many on Capitol Hill have aggressively opposed the extension. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan has been particularly outspoken about the tax holiday, referring to it as "sugar-high economics," and preferring instead a plan that includes comprehensive tax overhaul..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..Administration Making Efforts To Rein In Medicare Fraud … Continued

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