"Improving adult access to vaccines can save thousands of lives and billions of dollars. The health care costs associated with low adult vaccine rates are high - each year, the U.S. spends billion treating Medicare beneficiaries alone for four vaccine-preventable diseases. Cost-sharing and co-pays for vaccinations recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices were removed for all Affordable Care Act compliant private plans in 2010; however, Medicare beneficiaries were left out of this change and can still face high out-of-pocket costs for vaccinations.".If signed into law, the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act would amend title II of the Social Security Act to calculate cost-of-living adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers. It would also amend the Internal Revenue Code to gradually eliminate the cap on income subject to the payroll tax.."When family caregivers don't get the support they need, and few get enough, they are faced with leaving their jobs, taking on significant debt, or moving their loved ones out of their homes and into costly assisted living facilities," Cates notes. TSCL believes this growing problem must be addressed to enable older and disabled Americans to live with dignity in their homes and communities. TSCL encourages the public to contact Members of Congress and ask elected lawmakers to support the Credit For Caring Act. To learn, more visit..The concern is well justified. The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services has reported that Medicare Advantage plans deny care inappropriately at high rates. When the Office of the Inspector General collected data, it found that when beneficiaries and providers appealed pre-authorization and payment denials, Medicare Advantage Organizations over-turned 75% of their own denials over the 2014-2016 period. The OIG noted "This is especially concerning because beneficiaries and providers rarely use the appeals process, which is designed to ensure access to care and payment." Only 1 percent of beneficiaries and providers appealed denials.."Are You a Hospital Inpatient or Outpatient?" CMS, December 2009, Product No. 11435.."How Republicans' Brilliant Budget Tactic Backfired," Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times, May 28, 2013..TSCL is pleased that lawmakers in Congress are finally making progress on a solution that would give public servants the retirement security they have earned and deserve. The bill currently has more than sixty cosponsors, with support on both sides of the aisle. Following the hearing, TSCL sent a letter to the subcommittee in support of it. In the months ahead, we will encourage lawmakers to sign on to the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act as cosponsors, and we hope to see it signed into law before the end of this year..TSCL recently endorsed The BASIC ACT introduced by Senator Christopher Murphy that would pay the deceased beneficiary's Social Security benefits for each day a recipient lives. The bill would send the beneficiary's estate a check for the days lived in the final month. The legislation would also increase the size of the Social Security death payment from 5 to 50% of the deceased beneficiary's typical monthly Social Security income with 5 as the minimum payment. As currently structured, the legislation would cost an estimated 0 million each year..The "Gang of Eight's" proposal is now in the hands of the full Senate, and Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will bring the bill to the floor in June. Until then, TSCL will continue to monitor the evolving negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website.
