Health Conditions And Treatments Grief ResourcesOn Wednesday, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial outlook of both programs. As expected, they found that Social Security and Medicare are experiencing long-term financing shortfalls. Social Security's combined trust funds are expected to be depleted in 2034, which remains unchanged from last year's report. Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund is expected to be depleted in 2028 two years earlier than the trustees projected last year..Third, extending the payroll tax cut could make a permanent cut more likely. As of 2009, there were seventy–three "temporary" measures in the books - many of them are now considered as good as permanent. Scott Hodge, the President of the Tax Foundation, recently warned lawmakers about the nature of temporary tax cuts. He stated, "This is going to become a permanent law. Once these things get … cooked in to the system, they're awfully difficult to get rid of.".A report came out this weekend about the possibility of new major cuts to Medicare. This could result because of Senate rules about how many votes it takes to pass legislation. … Continued
State Category Providers Service Use Community Health CentersThe Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act, if signed into law, would repeal the SGR and set up a five-year trial period during which physician payments would stabilize and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would test new payment and delivery models. TSCL strongly believes that the SGR breeds uncertainty in the Medicare program for both physicians and beneficiaries. Many doctors have stopped accepting Medicare patients, and many more are threatening to do so if a permanent solution is not established soon. We believe that Rep. Schwartz's bill would bring increased stability to the program, and we urge Congress to pass it by the end of this year..Despite resistance from some lawmakers, appropriators in the House and Senate say that their work on the "cromnibus" is continuing. According to Harold Rogers, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, negotiations are "on schedule," and the bill should come to the floor by early next week. If it fails to get the necessary votes, lawmakers will likely adopt a continuing resolution to provide the government with short-term funding. At this point, leaders are saying that a government shutdown is not something that they're willing to consider..Medicare Extra Help helps pay for some, or most, of the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare prescription drug coverage. It is also known as the Part D "Low-Income" subsidy. Extra Help pays for the Part D premium up to a certain amount, lowers the cost of your prescription drugs, gives you special enrollment periods to switch plans, and eliminates the Part D late enrollment penalty if you did not enroll in Part D by your original deadline. If your income is under ,615 or ,175 and you have limited savings and resources, you might be eligible. Apply for Medicare Extra Help on the Social Security website. … Continued