Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not announced his health care priorities for the Senate this year. He still refuses to bring the bi-partisan Grassley-Wyden bill that would lower prescription drug prices up for debate on the Senate floor so that may be one of the reasons he has not issued information about his priorities..The Obama Administration along with many private corporations like Hewlett-Packard and Walgreens announced several other new projects that will aim to improve the lives of seniors at Monday's conference. For more information, check out the White House's Fact Sheet that summarizes each one..At a prescription drug forum in Central Virginia in November 2019, I heard from seniors who share these feelings. They're tired of seeing their drug costs rising. They're tired of having no way to understand why these prices continue to spike, and they're tired of lawmakers who refuse to act on an issue that impacts millions of seniors and families across our country each day..After weeks of debate by the House-Senate Conference Committee, President Obama signed the payroll tax holiday and temporary "doc fix" into law this week. Other action on Capitol Hill remained slow this week, as both Houses of Congress have adjourned for the Presidents Day Recess.."Splitting pills, taking prescriptions every other day, or simply not refilling prescriptions is hazardous to health, especially when the drug is an essential one for conditions such as diabetes," says Johnson, whose mother was a diabetic. "The process of comparing plans can be a chore and confusing. But there are Medicare counselors in every state who are available to help beneficiaries compare and select the best choice of coverage, with free one - on - one counseling," Johnson explains..The letter and the fact sheet leave out the most important part of the calculation - the additional lifetime income that one could expect to receive over a 20 30 year retirement, if one delays benefits up to age 70. That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars if you are in reasonably good health. In fact, Social Security's publications tend to imply that people get about the same amount of benefits if they start benefits early because they receive the reduced benefit over a longer period of time. That isn't necessarily the case..Replace windows and roofs only when necessary. Windows and roofs are expensive and no fun for older homeowners to replace. While homebuyers expect roofs and windows to be in good condition, replacing them may not dramatically boost the resale value of your home. Get the opinion of your real estate agent..This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate continued their work on an omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. Lawmakers set a .07 trillion cap in the sweeping budget deal that they passed at the end of October, and now they have until December 11th just three weeks to outline how those funds will be spent..According to a news report we've seen, groups that support President Trump are urging him to take a "hard look at mandatory spending, the root cause of the United States' fiscal woes." And when they say "mandatory spending" they are talking about Social Security and Medicare.
