Get the Seasonal Flu Vaccine but Not Just Yet.If signed into law, the BCRA would create an immediate funding crisis for the Medicare Part A Trust Fund by eliminating a key revenue source and providing the wealthiest Americans with a massive tax cut. Do you support this move, and what efforts would you back to address the Medicare funding crisis?.This week, one House subcommittee met to discuss the Social Security benefits of public servants like teachers, police officers, and firefighters. In addition, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new bill..The Senior Citizens League believes that the on-going Medicare cuts have weakened our ability to respond to national emergencies like COVID-1It has exacerbated a national healthcare worker shortage - including doctors and nurses, as well as the capacity of the nation's hospitals to deal with the sudden large influx of patients generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hospitals, doctors' offices, and nursing homes have required additional federal and state assistance as well as donations from the public, to acquire personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, and gloves..On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee met with officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Government Accountability Office to discuss the removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. According to Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger, more than one million seniors have been victims of identity theft in the past year, largely because the Medicare cards they are encouraged to carry everyday contain sensitive information..New Congress Convenes.This study has found that Social Security benefits tend to lose buying power over time, because prices of the goods and services most frequently purchased by older Americans tend to increase more quickly than the COLA. In this year's study, price data indicate that Social Security benefits lost 30 percent of buying power since 2000. The 2020 findings represent an improvement in benefit buying power of 3 percentage points from January 2000 through January 2020. Several items came down in price, particularly electricity, as well as a few food items including fresh fruits and vegetables..While the legislation made some changes to Social Security and did not cut benefits of any current retirees, it did end a complicated benefit claiming strategy known as "file and suspend" for people very close to retirement. Although the legislation closes an unintended "loophole," the strategy was one of the few means married couples had to maximize their payouts. A similar provision was contained in Obama's 2015 fiscal year budget and was estimated to cut Social Security costs by as much as .5 billion annually..Sixty-two percent of American households include at least one pet. Mine includes two –both a dog and an aging cat. New advances in veterinary medicines are making expensive treatments a reality, often putting owners into an emotional and fiscally painful bind. For example, I learned that my dog with paralysis in her hind quarters from a potentially fatal spinal disc rupture had the option of getting a ,000 surgery, followed by weeks of physical therapy in a swimming tank. My cat with hyperthyroidism is receiving oral medications costing up to 0 per year including blood tests. Even if your pet is perfectly healthy, vet bills for routine annual check-ups, tests, vaccines and treatments can run about 0 per year for dogs and 5 per year for cats.
