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July 15, 2011 The most likely deficit reduction proposals are also the most harmful to the nation's elderly, according to The Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan senior citizens advocacy groups. However, a few alternatives exist that would reduce the budget in less painful ways..Elizabeth Curda of the Government Accountability Office explained that the operating system for filing and processing these claims was built in the 1950s and requires .1 billion just to maintain, not to improve, the system. Max Stier from the Partnership for Public Service said: "We have a legacy government that hasn't kept up with the world.".TSCL Releases Results of 2013 Senior Survey.We believe that given the complexity of the new program, seniors who need insulin would be wise to enlist the assistance of a trained counselor before switching to such a plan to ensure they aren't giving up better coverage in other ways. This is particularly true if they are now in a Medigap plan and considering moving to a Medicare Advantage plan..According to the Congressional Research Service, for an age 65 retiree with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25%-two and one half times greater..According to a news report we've seen, groups that support President Trump are urging him to take a "hard look at mandatory spending, the root cause of the United States' fiscal woes." And when they say "mandatory spending" they are talking about Social Security and Medicare..In her new role as CMS administrator, Verma will report to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who has authored several Medicare reform plans in recent years. His proposals would increase the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 while adopting a "premium support" model, where beneficiaries would be given vouchers from the federal government to purchase private health insurance..One of the first tax cuts to expire under the recent tax law is likely to disproportionately affect older taxpayers and others with the highest healthcare costs starting in 2019, says The Senior Citizens League. "The medical expense deduction will become less generous in 2019, and that is likely to affect older taxpayers, because they tend to have high medical expenses," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "A less generous healthcare cost deduction could mean higher taxable income next year," she cautions..The new regulation announced by CMS calls for a standard format when a health plan orders, authorizes, or initiates an electronic funds transfer with its financial institution. The new standard is expected to decrease many complexities and costs that riddle the current model.