age 65 in 2008 or later)..This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts to continue the summer recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill next Tuesday, September 4th. In the days ahead, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following five..With it being such a contentious election year, Congress enacted legislation to limit that jump in Part B which could be made even worse because the COLAs of so many beneficiaries would not be high enough to cover the full amount of the increase..Improving the disability program's integrity by prohibiting the use of medical evidence from health providers who have been convicted of a felony, when deciding whether an applicant qualifies for benefits. This would make it more difficult for criminals to game the system..Prices for and Spending on Specialty Drugs in Medicare Part D and Medicaid, Congressional Budget Office, March 2019..Under current law, the federal government matches state Medicaid spending for everyone whose income is low enough to qualify, which is tied to the federal poverty level of ,060 or ,240. Under current law, as Medicaid spending increases due to rising program costs there are no caps on what the federal government contributes. Under the House and Senate health care bills, the federal government would switch to reimbursing states using a capped amount, regardless of the actual growth in costs in a state. If costs grow faster states would have to make up the difference..Under current Social Security law, that's all that's required to later claim benefits. To file for benefits, individuals don't need to be citizens, but must have a workauthorized Social Security number. Those receiving work authorization would become vested for benefits with as little as ten years of earnings. The oldest of those who are eligible for the deferred action could feasibly have worked illegally long enough to already be "vested" for Social Security — including disability. This would add to program solvency problems since the Congressional Budget Office and Social Security Trustees have estimated that the Social Security disability trust fund will be fully insolvent by 2016..Visit the customer service desk and request a refund of the overcharge. If you paid by credit card, make sure you have the card with you for a credit. This may resolve the problem. If it doesn't, contact your drug plan, tell them the problem, and request forms to file for claim reimbursement..Based on projections by the Trustees, Medicare Part B premiums will likely increase by around .80 next year, so the typical beneficiary will pay 4.30 per month, up from 5.50 in 201The Senior Citizens League is currently predicting a 2020 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment of around 1.2 percent, based on Consumer Price Index data through March. If those estimates are correct, most Social Security beneficiaries will see very modest increases in their net Social Security benefits next year after Medicare Part B premiums are deducted.
