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Late enrollment penalties are not like one-time tax penalties. Under the late enrollment penalty your monthly Part B premium may go up 10% for each full 12-month period that you delayed enrollment, and you pay the higher premiums for the rest of the time you receive Medicare..Proponents don't call it a cut. They say it's an "improvement" - and "a technical correction." They say that the change is needed because the CPI is inaccurate and doesn't reflect the effect on inflation when consumers substitute goods when prices change. Unlike our current method of measuring cost increases, chaining doesn't measure the actual change in the cost of goods from one month to the next. Instead, it attempts to measure how much people spend when prices go up..Between July 2013 and July 2014, the prices of more than 1,200 generic drugs increased an average of 448%. What do you believe should be done to manage the extreme cost increases of prescription drugs?.High Dose and Adjuvanted Flu Vaccine Side Effects.In 2016, seniors who depend on Social Security to make ends meet received no annual cost of living increase. Social Security is supposed to be indexed to inflation so that when prices go up, benefits go up too. But Congress's formula isn't geared to what older Americans actually spend. So even though the cost of core goods and services has gone up, seniors who are already struggling to scrape by to cover rent and exploding prescription drug prices, are scrambling..COLAs act much like interest rates on savings. Low COLAs mean Social Security benefits grow more slowly in retirement. This occurs even though many costs experienced by retirees, such out - of - pocket spending on prescription drugs - may grow several times as fast. "People who have been retired for 10 years or longer have absorbed the full financial blow of low COLAs," Johnson says. Johnson's analysis found that, over a ten - year period, average Social Security benefits of ,075 per month in 2009 lost a total of ,258 in financial growth from 2010 to 2019 when compared to the previous decade when COLAs averaged 3 percent. By the end of that 10 year period, average benefits were 3 per month lower than they would have been had inflation averaged the more typical 3 percent..Research Medicare Advantage health plans that offer some dental benefits. Medicare's fall Open Enrollment period starts October 15th and runs through December If you are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan it's a good idea to compare plans in your area every year anyway, and switch if you can find better coverage at a lower cost. You need to do the math on the deductibles, co-pays or co-insurance for the comprehensive benefits offered, including hospital, doctors, outpatient services, and prescription drugs that you already take before switching. Pay close attention to the fine print on additional benefits. Those dental benefits may only be in the form of discounts with network providers. TSCL strongly recommends AGAINST dropping a Medigap supplement to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan solely based on additional benefits like dental coverage. Those additional benefits can end suddenly, especially when plans cut costs to compensate for lower government reimbursements, so don't bet your Medigap coverage on them..For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings during the summer recess, call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE..The hold harmless provision protects people who have their Medicare Part B premiums automatically deducted from their Social Security payments. If the Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the amount of the COLA increase, then the Part B premium will be frozen to prevent a reduction in Social Security payments. The provision does not apply to new enrollees in 2016, people who pay their Medicare Part B premiums by check, low-income beneficiaries who have their Medicare premiums paid for by state Medicaid programs and high income people who pay premium surcharges.