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On the other hand, the standard deduction for 2020 has increased slightly and is ,800 for married couples filing jointly. In addition, if both you and your spouse are age 65 and older you add an extra ,300 to the standard deduction for a total standard deduction ,100. That means your total itemized deductions will need to be higher than ,100..Since Social Security estimated that you earned 0,320, when you only earned ,200, clearly there is an error. To contest your earnings, dig out a copy of your 2014 W2s and income tax return, the one you filed April 15th of 2015..Get started now on a financial habit that can give you big savings for the time you invest in shopping around..The report added, "Since the first case arrived in the U.S. at the start of the year, medical professionals have gone from fumbling in the dark to better understanding which drugs work -- such as steroids and blood thinners, and the antiviral medicine remdesivir. Allocation of intensive medical resources have improved. And doctors have learned to hold off on the use of ventilators for some patients, unlike with many other severe respiratory illnesses..Will higher-income workers pay their fair share of taxes to Social Security?.The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was created under the Budget Control Act of 2011, and is charged with finding at least .2 trillion in deficit cuts by Thanksgiving. It will likely consider proposals to reform Social Security and Medicare..Recently we received the following example:.Learn if there's an older, less expensive drug that you can try first. If you have a copy of your drug plan's formulary you may want to take that with you to the doctor's office to assist with checking an alternate medication, and what you will pay out-of-pocket..better coverage and reduced her drug cost to a co-pay. Once you determine

Health Costs Issue Brief Data Note Americans Challenges Health Care Costs

TSCL is strongly opposed to plans to "chain the COLA." Such a switch has been estimated to reduce Social Security benefits by about 7% over a 30-year retirement. An average benefit of ,300 in 2017 would be about 5 per month less at the end of the period than it would be using the current CPI. An index that causes higher taxes, and lower retirement benefits, make the chained CPI a bad deal for older Americans..It sounds like you are very fortunate. Under Medicare, your Part D prescription drug initial coverage limit is just ,3At the price of Humira you would hit the Part D doughnut hole or coverage gap the second time you filled your prescription. According to the Medicare's drug plan software, your estimated lowest cost for a full year, including your drug plan premium, would be in the vicinity of ,036..One of the first tax cuts to expire under the recent tax law is likely to disproportionately affect older taxpayers and others with the highest healthcare costs starting in 2019, says The Senior Citizens League. "The medical expense deduction will become less generous in 2019, and that is likely to affect older taxpayers, because they tend to have high medical expenses," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "A less generous healthcare cost deduction could mean higher taxable income next year," she cautions. … Continued

Medicare State Indicator Pdps That Are Low Income Subsidy Eligible

This week, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial health of the programs. In addition, Senator David Vitter's Notch Fairness Act and Representative Buck McKeon's Social Security Fairness Act each gained one new cosponsor..About 44 percent of TSCL Senior Survey respondents last year said that their Social Security benefit was lower in 2011 after deduction for Medicare premium payments. Another TSCL survey found that 44 percent of respondents also said they spent at least 0 a month on Medicare premiums and other out-of-pocket costs in 201"With the average benefit at ,100, about 17 million seniors are spending one-third of their Social Security benefit on Medicare costs, " Hyland observes..This week, budget conferees released their fiscal 2016 blueprint, and lawmakers in the House voted in favor of it. In addition, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new piece of legislation the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act. … Continued