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Two House Bills Gain New Support.Last year the Government Accountability Office in a report to Congress defined "notches" as "unduly large incremental reductions." In addition, the GAO further said "Notches create marked inequities between beneficiaries close in age to each other.".By Representative Charlie Crist.Consumer Reports makes a good point. When you stick with the higher costing brand, the entire cost of the drug under that plan will apply towards your initial coverage limit, pushing you toward the doughnut hole coverage gap. That raises the chance you will use up your limit before the year's end and you'll pay half the cost of the brand name drug in the doughnut hole, and 79% on any generics. You may want to ask your doctor to prescribe the generic version of the drug whenever available..The deduction is especially important to people age 65 and over, since spending on medical expenses increases with age, and healthcare costs can be considerable. About 23 percent of participants in The Senior Citizens League's 2018 Senior Survey said they routinely itemize medical expenses. A recent report from the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation says that Medicare households spent on average ,355 in 2016 on healthcare costs that Medicare doesn't cover. That's equivalent to ,700 in 2018 adjusting for inflation..Emergency legislation passed earlier this year required health insurers, including those participating in Medicare, to cover both the coronavirus test, and associated care for COVID-19 without cost sharing. But it's becoming clear that patients may still be vulnerable to "surprise" medical bills for costs they thought would be covered. We hope that your dad is not another such case..Annual cuts to healthcare providers. The Affordable Care Act provided for a number of cost-cutting mechanisms that cut government spending on hospitals and other healthcare providers. Medicare's Chief Actuary and the Congressional Budget Office have raised doubts that the savings targets can be achieved over a prolonged period of time, without providers dropping out of Medicare. Media reports already suggest that a growing number of Medicare beneficiaries are left with significant uncovered costs as hospitals keep patients listed as outpatients rather than inpatients due to new rules that penalize hospitals for frequent readmissions. TSCL is concerned that these sorts of problems may escalate as provisions of the Affordable Care Act are implemented..Unfortunately, the two other changes that took effect last month will not affect seniors as positively. Young retirees will be hit with an increase in the threshold for the itemized deductions of medical expenses. Those under the age of sixty-five will not be able to deduct unreimbursed medical expenses unless they account for at least 10 percent of adjusted gross income. Those over the age of sixty-five may continue using the 7.5 percent threshold until 2017; however, all seniors should beware that this tax provision may be modified or even eliminated as lawmakers continue to search for ways to reduce the deficit..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.