Hospitals, which are often the biggest employers in their localities, or even their states, have furloughed workers, and the industry lost an estimated billion a month in foregone surgeries and procedures during the worst part of the pandemic. Hospitals rely on elective surgeries for a major portion of their revenue, because Medicare and private insurers tend to pay more for those procedures than other types of hospital care. Hospitals say they also have lost money in treating COVID-19, because of the amount of intensive care that patients need..Increasing the frequency of Continuing Disability Reviews. Additional funding for CDRs, which are conducted periodically to determine if enrollees still qualify for DI benefits, would return significant savings to the program according to recent projections..It's likely the surprise billing package will be attached to the year-end government spending bill, as lawmakers attempted to do late last year, assuming they can come to an agreement by the end of the year..Charitable contributions, and the donation of goods, provided you have receipts for the donations..The United States consistently lags behind countries like China, South Korea, and others in education, placing us 26th in math, and 21st in science, out of 34 countries. As we work to improve our education system to compete internationally, I believe recruiting teachers is critical to the success of our children and our nation. Unfortunately, we are doing just the opposite. We have two decades-old policies in place that unintentionally discourage people from becoming public servants and punish those who are..Based on projections by the Trustees, Medicare Part B premiums will likely increase by around .80 next year, so the typical beneficiary will pay 4.30 per month, up from 5.50 in 201The Senior Citizens League is currently predicting a 2020 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment of around 1.2 percent, based on Consumer Price Index data through March. If those estimates are correct, most Social Security beneficiaries will see very modest increases in their net Social Security benefits next year after Medicare Part B premiums are deducted..Most Americans are under-informed about their Social Security retirement choices, and they don't mind saying so. The fact is the Social Security Administration isn't structured to provide understandable personal guidance or one-on-one counseling. It's almost totally automated and dependent on applicants having access to a computer and a good internet connection..Medicare Part B premiums jumped .10 per month in 2020 - one of the biggest increases in recent years. While the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment increased benefits by 1.6 percent in 2020, Medicare Part B premiums climbed 6.7 percent, more..Automatic renewals are supposed to make this fall's Open Enrollment under the new health law run more smoothly for consumers like you. But analysts are warning to only do so as a last resort - especially if you qualified for a lower premium. The lower premiums are made possible through premium subsidies, which are actually an advance tax credit based on your income. According to analysts, health insurance exchange customers who like the convenience of automatically renewing are likely to receive outdated and inaccurate premium subsidy amounts that could result in big tax bills later.
