In addition, one new cosponsor Rep. Bobby Rush signed on to the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act this week. Rep. Rush is the eleventh Member of Congress to pledge his support for the bill. If signed into law, it would comprehensively reform the prescription drug industry to reduce costs for consumers..We look forward to working with Sen. Casey and Rep. Cartwright in the coming months to help build support for this important bill. In addition, we urge our members and supporters to contact their elected officials to request their support for it. For contact information, CLICK HERE..Another issue known as "balance billing" arises when patients are billed the difference between what a doctor charges for a service and what an insurer is willing to pay for it..Last year, the Social Security Trust Fund fell into deficit, paying out more than received in revenues for the first time since 198The new incoming Congress will undoubtedly consider long-term proposals that would cut Social Security benefits. But at the same time, Totalization with Mexico would add potentially millions of new beneficiaries to the rolls - beneficiaries whose checks are based, at least in part, on illegal work..The bill caps the.Benefit Bulletin: September 2020 Low-Income Health Programs, Working and Laid Off Workers Take the Biggest Hit When Medicare Part B Premiums Spike.This week, action on Capitol Hill slowed down as the House of Representatives adjourned for a holiday recess, and the Senate focused on legislation to reauthorize programs within the FDA. Meanwhile, TSCL expressed support for a new House resolution, introduced by Rep. Scott Rigell..TSCL is working with Members of Congress for the "Guaranteed 3% COLA for Seniors Act, introduced by Representative Eliot Engel. The bill directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prepare and publish a monthly CPI-E and uses it to calculate the annual Social Security COLA. And in the case when inflation is low, the bill would provide an annual COLA of at least 3%.."At the very least a plan is needed to prevent fraudsters from stealing critically needed benefits from legitimately disabled beneficiaries," Cates says. TSCL agrees with the Social Security Administration Inspector General that the best way to do this is to conduct full medical continuing disability reviews to ensure that people are still eligible to receive benefits. Yet In fiscal year 2013, the budget request was to conduct 650,000 reviews but given the actual funding received, the agency reported conducting only 429,000 such reviews. Consequently the Social Security Administration reports a backlog of 1.3 million overdue CDRs at the end of fiscal year 2013.[v] TSCL urges Congressional support to provide the resources needed to eliminate the CDR backlog and provide rigorous oversight from fraud..In a recent Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill questioned medical and pharmaceutical industry leaders about the financial relationship between physicians and drug companies. Pharmaceutical companies currently spend billions of dollars annually 90 percent of their marketing program on gifts, lunches, drug samples, and sponsorships of education programs for doctors without any form of public disclosure, leading many to question whether economic incentives provided by the industry cloud physicians' judgment and put profits ahead of patients.
