News

Adopting a more accurate and adequate COLA that protects seniors against inflation;.If signed into law, S. 1904 would strengthen Social Security benefits by enacting an across-the-board benefit increase, adopting the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, increasing the minimum Social Security benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line, and increasing the threshold on the taxation of Social Security benefits. It would also strengthen the solvency of the trust funds by applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000, increasing the payroll tax rate by 0.05 percent annually until it reaches 7.65 percent, and reallocating funds to the Disability Insurance trust fund..In some cases, where the surviving spouse is younger, or there is a disabled child, the higher monthly benefit might be preferable because presumably it would be payable for a longer period of time. In addition, the Notch Reform benefit would be split among eligible survivors, for example, a widow and a former divorced spouse. Under these circumstances the higher monthly benefit may also yield more than the lump-sum. But for most Notch Babies or their survivors, TSCL believes the lump-sum would provide a higher benefit..Major Findings.Since its inception, Medicare has undergone a number of changes. Since 1972 the program has covered disabled persons under 6In the last 25 years, beneficiaries were given the option to obtain services through private managed care arrangements. And most recently, the passage of the Affordable Care Act strengthened Medicare by closing the prescription "donut hole" and expanding preventative services with no deductible or co-pay..Also this week, two new cosponsors signed on to Rep. Allyson Schwartz's Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act. Reps. Tim Walz and Eliot Engel signed on, bringing the cosponsor total up to twenty-six..TSCL survey participants are strongly supportive of legislative proposals that would modestly boost Social Security benefits, with 78 percent supporting the proposal. In addition the survey found that 86 percent support boosting the COLA by tying the annual COLA to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, which would tend to provide a modestly higher COLA in most years..lucky enough to be in the middle of the fall Part D Open Enrollment period,.Drug and Health Plan Finders at : The only way to be sure you're getting unbiased information is to use the drug and health plan finders on the Medicare website, not from a dot com or even a dot org website, because most others receive income from ads, selling health plans or prescription drugs. Using the Drug and Health Plan Finders you can get an overview of the Part D and Medicare Advantage options in your area and estimated costs based on the prescriptions you take. Click on the Drug and Health Plan Finder link on the homepage and you will be taken to a page that will ask you a series of questions to get started. There's a Medicare Plan Finder online tutorial video to help show you what to do.