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Your answers to TSCL's Annual Senior Survey makes a difference! TSCL shares the results with Members of Congress and the media..For most Americans, the prices of essential prescription drugs are increasing far too rapidly for family budgets to sustain. Many Americans are being forced to choose between paying household bills and purchasing life-saving medications. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation issued a poll last October reporting that 77% of Americans - Democrats, Independents, and Republicans - identified the increasing prices of prescription drugs as their number one health concern.The American people are absolutely right..Do You Qualify For Medicare Part D Extra Help?.If the Supreme Court rules against the federal government, that could have a devastating impact on the new program. The case centers on whether people who enrolled through the federal exchange can legally receive subsidies to lower their monthly premiums..Last week was a busy one in Congress. There are 3 reasons for that. First, the worsening of the coronavirus pandemic in many more states and the need to pass another major piece of legislation to deal with its effects..Ending the payroll tax, "would end Social Security as we now know it - as an 'earned' benefit that people pay for with taxes based on their wages," Johnson says. "If Social Security were funded out of general revenues instead, the program would be more like welfare - subject to the annual appropriations process, and the funding or repeal whims of Congress," she says..What do you know about the fastest rising expenses in retirement? Take this quiz at..What is the "chained" CPI?.The subsidies are based on household income. If your income went down in 2014 you may be entitled to a bigger health insurance subsidy tax credit. But if your income goes up you would get a lower premium subsidy.

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The good news is that in the years following attaining full retirement age, you may earn as much as you want without reduction to your benefits.."Extra Help Basics," Medicare Interactive, The Medicare Rights Center, accessed on June 19, 2018..In fact, unlike the additional Medicare tax on high earners, this 3.8% net investment tax was not even a specific provision of the Affordable Care Act. It was a provision of a separate bill, the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010 which was passed about two days after the Affordable Care Act. By setting up the revenues so that they would flow to the General Fund, Congress by-passed earmarking those revenues for Medicare Part A or Part B Trust Fund. That means when the funds are used for other government spending, the Medicare Trust Funds are not earning any interest from the federal government for the use of those funds. … Continued

News Summary House Appropriations Subcommittees Approve Fy 2018 State Foreign Operations Sfops And Health Human Services Hhs Appropriations Bills

Physical, occupational and speech therapy services for some patients, especially those who have long-term severe illnesses, are the services that have been impacted the most. Under a new Medicare reimbursement system, home health agencies now have a stronger financial incentive to treat patients who need short-term therapy after a stay in the hospital or rehabilitation facility. Payments under the new reimbursement system are higher for people who are discharged from an institution and have services provided within the first 30 days - and get lower after that..Shop your local farmers' markets, and growers. Until you've sampled just - picked local fruits and vegetables, you really haven't tasted produce at its peak. Not only will you find better quality and better tasting produce, often grown organically, you'll find better prices too, especially when there's a glut and the grower has limited storage space. August, for example, is your best time to stock up on tomatoes, beans, corn, squash, cucumbers, peppers, melons and eggplant..Compare your drug and health plan options during the Medicare Open Enrollment period October 15th - December 7th. Does your current drug plan cover expensive new prescriptions? If not, you need to check your other options. Chances are another plan will. Use the Drug and Health Plan Finder at. Make sure you carefully enter every prescription drug you take in order to get a custom comparison of your best drug plan choices. Costs can vary by hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, and you may be very surprised by the savings from switching to a better plan. You can get unbiased help to compare your coverage. Call your Area Agency on Aging and ask for the help of a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor, or visit online. … Continued