Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League told Stephen Ohlemacher of the Associated Press that she has serious concerns about the long-term impact of Tuesday's COLA announcement. She said, "This loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year, causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned. Over the course of a 25- or 30-year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars.".Emergency legislation passed earlier this year required health insurers, including those participating in Medicare, to cover both the coronavirus test, and associated care for COVID-19 without cost sharing. But it's becoming clear that patients may still be vulnerable to "surprise" medical bills for costs they thought would be covered. We hope that your dad is not another such case..This week, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for two bills that would improve Medicare coverage of certain services. First, TSCL endorsed the Audiology Patient Choice Act, a bipartisan bill that was introduced in March by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Rand Paul. The bill was introduced in the House last year by Representative Tom Rice with the support of several cosponsors..The COLA is calculated using data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Of the CPI groups that the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures, the CPI-W covers only 28% of the total U.S. population, and specifically excludes households "with no one in the labor force, such as retirees.".When left untreated, these conditions often cause serious health complications and injuries. But when treated successfully, the result is improved overall health and lower costs for Medicare and patients. For example, Mary J. who lives near Charlottesville, Virginia recently told us she suffered for years with severe chronic pulmonary and gastric infections. After periodontitis was discovered and treated with oral surgery last year, her chronic cough and inflammatory symptoms cleared up completely. Since then, Mary has successfully gone without inhalers and frequent visits to her primary care physician, gastroenterologist, and pulmonologist, saving Medicare thousands of dollars..Since the WEP and GPO were created decades ago, lawmakers have been working on better alternatives. At Tuesday's hearing, those on the subcommittee discussed a bill the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act that could be a promising solution. If signed into law, it would provide immediate relief to current retirees affected by adjusting their Social Security benefits. According to Stephen Goss the Social Security Administration's Chief Actuary around 80 percent would see benefit increases of approximately 20 percent.."Doctors and experts say that improved medical tactics and earlier treatment are helping improve the outcomes for very sick patients, said Andrew Badley, head of Mayo Clinic's Covid Research Task Force..People who are already retired, or close to it, aren't able to make adjustments to retirement plans if benefits are abruptly cut..Your thoughts on this matter can sway votes in Congress. Contact your Members of Congress. Letting each of them know what you think about debt limit deals that would cut "entitlements" like the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or trim benefits in other ways.
