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Letter to Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator, CMS, from Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, July 11, 201Testimony of Robert A. Berenson, M.D., Institute Fellow, the Urban Institute, U.S. Special Committee on Aging, July 18, 2012..The Congressional Budget Office recently reviewed a proposal that would boost the taxable amount of Social Security benefits, as one of the options for Congress to consider to reduce the federal deficit. The proposal, which the CBO has reviewed in prior versions of its Options to Reduce the Deficit, would tax Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits the same way that distributions from defined benefit pensions are taxed. This is expected to increase the taxable income of older Americans..Government economists not only changed the math, they changed the underlying concept of the consumer price index itself. While the CPI formerly measured price changes of a fixed market basket of items from one period to the next, today the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses formulas more consistent with a theoretical cost-of-living concept. And because it is theoretical, it uses estimates and produces data that is subject to two revisions..Click here to learn more about the NASI survey..When it comes to the big drug companies, they do not want limits on the costs of the drugs they manufacture. That is why they make so many campaign contributions..To contact Social Security, you may call toll free at or visit the website at..The government negotiates prescription drug prices for veterans and Medicaid beneficiaries, but it is barred from negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, seniors enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices than other Americans for their prescription drugs. What are you doing to correct this unfair policy?.For more information about scams in your area see the Better Business Bureau's Scam List..If you require a non-formulary drug, for which there is no acceptable alternative, your doctor can ask your Medicare drug plan for a Formulary Exception, a type of Coverage Determination that would add the drug to your Part D plan coverage. If approved, you would be able to purchase your medication at the lower plan co-insurance and receive discounts if or when you reach the Part D doughnut hole.

State Legislatures Magazine First Branch News Legislative Headlines Week Of April 19 2021 Magazine2021

A new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that new payroll taxes would boost Social Security and Medicare's financial condition in the short term. But in the long term, federal spending would increase significantly as those affected by immigration policy changes become eligible for Social Security and Medicare..According to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League, premiums for Medicare supplemental insurance, known as Medigap, grew more than twice as fast as Social Security cost of living -adjustments in the past year. About 41 percent of survey participants who are covered by a Medigap policy report robust premium increases in the past 12 months of at least 6 percent or more, particularly for individuals who were covered by a policy for more than two years. "The Social Security COLA for 2019 is 2.8 percent, far lower than the rate that Medigap policies appear to be growing," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League..For progress updates or for more information about these and other bills that would strengthen Social Security and Medicare programs, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website or follow TSCL on Twitter … Continued

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The BCRA, the "repeal-and-replace" bill that lawmakers have been working on for several weeks, was defeated on Tuesday night with a vote of 43 5The ORRA, the "repeal-and-delay" bill, was defeated with a vote of 45 55 on Wednesday afternoon. And the "skinny repeal" bill which would have repealed a few of the ACA's most controversial provisions was defeated early Friday morning with a vote of 49 51, just two hours after the text of the bill was revealed. The critical "no" votes came from three Republican Senators: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain..How the Categories Compare Between the CPI-W and the CPI-E.Immigration law forbids working in this country without legal authorization and a Social Security Number. Yet millions of "undocumented" immigrant workers are earning income. Illegals often get jobs by using illegally obtained, forged, or invalid Social Security numbers. Employers in turn withhold payroll taxes and report the earnings to the Social Security Administration using those numbers. When the numbers don't match up with the numbers issued by SSA, they go into a special file called the "Earnings Suspense File." Valid numbers issued from the U.S. government are also misused. … Continued