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Three Key Bills Gain Support.Here are six steps to take now that can help you slow hitting the doughnut hole.If signed into law, S. 141 would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which was created in 2010 by the Affordable Care Act..Who will pay for President Trump's border wall with Mexico? It's looking increasingly unlikely that it will be Mexico, and that the money may instead come out of the Social Security benefits of older Americans. The President's very first budget for fiscal year 2018 contains a request to build a border wall with Mexico..This is hard. Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic changes it has brought to all our lives is hard. But for seniors, the group most vulnerable to severe, and even fatal cases of the disease, it is very hard..Most physicians do still accept Medicare, and most people insured by the federal program for seniors and people with disabilities have no problem finding another health care provider. But that transition can be tough, particularly for older adults with multiple medical conditions..Although there's a new higher standard deduction for U.S. taxpayers this year, tax professionals are cautioning taxpayers against automatically taking it. The 2017 tax legislation retains the deduction for medical expenses. This year, taxpayers can deduct medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of their Adjusted Gross Income, but that threshold will rise to 10% of the AGI in 2019, so taxpayers won't be able to deduct as much. It would be a good idea to crunch the numbers now, to learn if itemizing and the medical expense deduction would reduce your taxes..On Tuesday, the Senate Special Aging Committee held a hearing titled "Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimer's: Reducing Risk, Detecting Early Symptoms, and Improving Data." Those on the Aging Committee heard from experts as well as individuals who have personal experience with the disease, including award-winning actor Marcia Gay Harden..Low-income "dual-eligibles" - Medicare beneficiaries whose incomes are so low that they are also eligible for Medicaid. Part B premiums are paid on their behalf by state Medicaid programs.

Medicare Part D A First Look At Prescription Drug Plans In 2019

This week, both the House of Representatives and the Senate held hearings concerning the nation's opioid epidemic. First, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee met on February 27th to discuss the role that technology can play in helping reduce the opioid crisis. HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander cited the statistic that 1 out of 16 patients who are prescribed opioids become chronic users and are more likely to abuse the drugs..It is time to invest in these essential caregivers and our seniors. It is for this reason that I introduced H.R. 4445, the Improving Care for Vulnerable Older Citizens through Workforce Advancement Act of 201The bill would amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish six, three-year demonstration projects to test models of care using direct-care workers in advanced roles. These demonstrations would focus on care coordination and improved delivery of health services for older adults with chronic illness or at-risk of re-hospitalization. Two projects would train DCWs to take on increased responsibilities related to caring for patients with specific diseases, including Alzheimer's, dementia, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. Two additional projects would include DCWs as members of interdisciplinary care coordination teams and use their abilities to promote smooth transitions in care. The final two would use DCWs to monitor patient health status, help consumers follow prescribed care, and educate consumers and family caregiver..From a tax perspective, your distributions from a traditional IRA or 401 are 100% taxable, while distributions from a Roth IRA or 401 are not taxable. Up to 85% of Social Security benefits may be taxable but, for many people, the taxable percentage is much lower. … Continued

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President Obama signed it into law shortly thereafter, saying it will improve the Medicare program "because it starts encouraging payments based on quality, not the number of tests that are provided or the number of procedures that are applied, but whether or not people actually start feeling better." The law took effect immediately, and upon the bill's signing, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it had already begun reimbursing physicians at the full payment rate.."Auxiliary Beneficiaries Who Do Not Have Their Own Social Security Number," Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, September 2014, A-01-14-14036..TSCL Endorses Social Security Fairness Act … Continued