"At the same time Social Security payroll taxes have taken a huge hit due to tens of millions of people out of work, claims for Social Security will grow faster in 2020 than anticipated, as older adults lose their jobs," says Johnson. Before the start of the coronavirus recession, many older workers may have delayed claiming Social Security to allow their benefits to grow. "But those who lose their jobs may have to go ahead and claim Social Security benefits now because they can't afford to wait - especially if their retirement accounts have gone down significantly in value as well," Johnson says..Access to the plans is highly variable. While some areas of the country have dozens of Medicare Advantage plans, rural counties often have very limited choices, or as little as just one insurer. Frequently, older and sicker enrollees discover that Medicare Advantage plan out-of-pocket spending due to chronic health conditions, or a hospitalization can be much higher than with a Medigap plan. Medigap supplements cover most, or even all, out of pocket costs..The costs don't stop at ,350. Unlike other types of health insurance, there is no out-of-pocket annual maximum for beneficiaries enrolled in Part D. After spending the ,350 in drug costs, Part D plan enrollees pay the greater of 5% co-insurance or copays of .60 for generics and .95 for brand or non-preferred brand drugs. For someone taking high cost specialty drugs, the 5% coinsurance could still be in the hundreds of dollars and, would continue for each refill until the end of the year..Congress is now in recess and is not scheduled to start again until April 20. Of course, that could change, depending on the situation with the spread of the virus..According to a report in Bloomberg Government News, "Centrist Democrats in the House are pushing to shrink their party's health-care wish list to focus more on low-income Americans, a move backed by industry groups including dentists who say a narrower focus is better policy..A new bill was introduced in the Senate this week that would lower costs for Americans with diabetes and other chronic diseases who have high-deductible health plans. This legislation would not affect seniors who are covered by Medicare, but it could be very helpful for seniors who are under 65 and still working and who only have high-deductible health insurance. Authored by Sens. John Thune and Tom Carper, the bill, called the Chronic Disease Management Act, would lower health care costs by allowing high-deductible health plans to provide chronic disease prevention services - including insulin for diabetes - to plan enrollees before they reach their plan deductible..For information about town hall meetings near you during the summer congressional recess, call the local offices of your elected officials. For Congressional contact information, visit our website at..Social Security Benefits Slowed Amid COVID-19 Deaths.The Committee has held two additional hearings on prescription drug prices. In July, the Committee heard directly from patients who are unable to afford their prescription drugs. Two of the witnesses at that hearing were Medicare beneficiaries who were prescribed a cancer drug priced at more than ,000 per month.
