Rural practices and patients deserve a better partner in the federal government when it comes to the health of rural America. History has shown that communities that don't have a reliable healthcare facility struggle to maintain their livelihood..A provision of a recently enacted government spending bill restricts Part B premium increases in 202The bill caps the Part B premium increase for next year at the 2020 amount plus 25% of the difference between the 2020 amount and a preliminary amount for 202The preliminary amount would be calculated the same way that it would have been without the bill but would prevent dramatic increases that may have occurred as a result of Medicare Part B premiums growing when the COLA is so low..If signed into law, the Notch Fairness Act would provide modest compensation to Notch babies, or those individuals who receive lower Social Security benefits because they were born between 1917 and 192TSCL feels that this inequity was brought about by the Social Security Act Amendments that were signed into law in 197Just years before they were set to retire, these individuals learned that they would have significantly lower benefits than originally anticipated. TSCL strongly supports the Notch Fairness Act, which would provide Notch babies with either a ,000 lump-sum payment or an increased monthly benefit..The Velcro effect of anchoring can influence far more consequential decisions, in ways we may not even realize. Consider the process of determining the "right" retirement age:.Congressional aides have said that the conference co-chairs, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan, are "talking almost every day," but a partisan divide over potential "sequester" offsets seems to have halted progress. Half of the conferees hope to replace a portion of the "sequester" with revenue increases, while the other half would like to enact cuts to mandatory programs, including Social Security and Medicare. At this point, conferees on both sides are remaining steadfast in their positions..This week, the partial federal government shutdown continued for the fifth week, and The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new bill that would expand Medicare coverage to include essential health services..If you are in for observation, Medicare considers you an outpatient, and your services are covered under Medicare Part B. Generally, this means you will have a co-payment for each individual outpatient service. In some cases, your total copayments for all services may even be more than the inpatient hospital deductible. In addition, most of the prescription drugs you get in an outpatient setting aren't covered by Part B and you would need to check with your drug plan to find out whether the drugs would be covered..Tightening eligibility requirements, including requiring disability applicants to have worked six of the past ten years, and modestly increasing the age at which it becomes easier to qualify for benefits from forty-five to fifty..This week, TSCL's legislative consultants, Former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, along with TSCL's legislative analyst, Jessie Gibbons, held meetings on Capitol Hill with Members of Congress and their top staff.

Health Reform Perspective Pulling It Together Perspectives On State Health

Thus the new formula went into effect almost immediately for most people and is one reason why retirees born over the ten-year period of 1917 through 1926 were affected, not only those covered by the five-year phase-in. In addition, the economy did not perform the way Congress and the Social Security Administration assumed it would under the new benefit formula. Slower than anticipated wage growth, and higher than expected price inflation, resulted in even greater benefit reductions than under original assumptions. These economic conditions persisted for a decade, thus affecting those born over a ten-year period..In 2010, 2011, and 2016 there was no COLA payable at all and, in 2017, the COLA was just 0.03 percent. Likewise, in 2018, the COLA was 2 percent, but rising Part B premiums consumed the entire increase for roughly half of all beneficiaries..This is obviously an area of concern for many TSCL members who get their prescriptions delivered through the mail as well as though who receive monthly checks by mail. If you have problems with late delivery, we urge you to contact your own Senators and Representative and let them know. Congress needs to put pressure on the postal service to get this problem fixed. … Continued

Cambridge Medical Center Earns Recognition From The Joint Commission

Under current law, Social Security beneficiaries whose total income exceeds specific thresholds are required to claim a portion of their Social Security benefits as taxable income. Depending on income, as much as 50% to 85% of Social Security benefits could be taxable. A bulletin from the Social Security Administration estimates that the median share of benefits owed as tax for most retirees would be far less than that, however, remaining close to 12% over the period 2020 to 2050..The survey, which was conducted from mid - January to mid-February of this year, asked the following "How has the coronavirus - caused recession affected the value of your retirement savings as of December 31, 2020?" Some 18 percent of survey participants reported that they had no retirement savings at all. Of those with retirement savings, 48 percent reported that the value of their retirement savings was still down on December 31, 2020 from the ending value on December 31, 201Thirty-one percent reported that their savings had recovered to about the same value as on December 31, 201Only 22 percent reported that their savings had increased by December 31, 2020. Of this group, only 9 percent said their savings had increased by more than 10 percent..As originally introduced, the bill tied all income taxes paid on Social Security benefits to the Social Security Trust Fund, and none to the Medicare Trust Fund. Instead, the bill specified that revenues destined for the Medicare Trust Fund would come from general revenues, in an amount equal to those that the trust fund was otherwise estimated to receive from the taxation of Social Security benefits. … Continued

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