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Heap's story is part of a major investigative series on Medicare drug fraud, by the independent, non-profit investigative news organization ProPublica. Reporters, using Medicare's own data, were able to identify scores of doctors whose prescribing within Part D followed known patterns of fraud. ProPublica's investigation found that "Medicare's system for pursuing fraud is so cumbersome and poorly run that schemes quickly siphon away millions." The stories are drawing a remarkable reaction from the normally snail-paced Medicare. The agency recently announced plans to better control prescription drug fraud, including new authority to revoke doctors' Medicare enrollment if patterns of abusive prescribing are found..Under growing pressure to reduce the federal debt, Congress is considering a new Medicare proposal that would shift the risk of rising costs that outpace spending targets set by the government to seniors and the disabled. The proposal comes from a key recommendation of President Obama's Fiscal Commission..One important option to select is inflation protection. The cost of.While economists are still sorting out the reason for the fall in inflation, I recently asked what you have observed in the way of prices. Are the goods and services on which you typically spend most of your budget really falling - or are those prices actually going up?.The Senate advanced its own bi-partisan prescription drug bill, that would establish a new out-of-pocket spending cap at about ,100. While the Senate Finance Committee advanced the package to the floor, it remains on hold. Nevertheless, these bills continue to be among TSCL's highest priorities for passage this year..And that's not the only way this hospital and others like it are getting shorted. Most rural healthcare providers receive lower Medicare reimbursement rates. That puts rural providers in a financial bind and makes it difficult for hospitals and doctors to keep their doors open for business..What Caused The Social Security Notch?.A major move is underway to reduce government spending on Social Security by cutting the growth rate in annual cost-of-living adjustments. What would it cost you? Here are answers to some of your most frequently asked questions:.On NBC's Meet the Press program on Sunday Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director

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TSCL encourages all readers concerned about the future of their Social Security and Medicare benefits to Contact your Member of Congress. Let's tell Congress not to pay Social Security based on unauthorized work! Work under invalid and fraudulent Social Security numbers should be invalid for entitlement to Social Security benefits. To learn more, track bills that are in congress..On Monday, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees reported on the financial standing of both programs. According to the six Trustees, Social Security and Medicare are worse off than they were just one year ago. Social Security's combined OASDI Trust Funds will reach exhaustion in 2033, three years earlier than last year's report projected. Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will face insolvency in 2024, the same date that was projected last year. However, the program's actual costs are expected to exceed estimates since the Trustees could not account for the costly "doc fix," which Congress will likely vote for at the end of this year..The index used to determine the COLA of retirees does not measure the spending patterns of retirees, but younger workers instead. Retirees, we all know, spend their money differently than younger people and must spend a far bigger share of their budgets on housing and medical costs - two categories of spending that often rise several times faster than overall inflation. … Continued

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New rules prohibit insurers from rejecting applicants with pre-existing health problems or charging you more based on your health history. The law also sets limits on how much insurers may charge older buyers. Premiums for a 64-year-old can be no more than three times as much as they are for a 21-year-old. However, concerns are widespread that insurance costs could still be challenging for many seniors..The 1977 benefit formula changes affected workers who turned 62 and became eligible for benefits just two years later, in 1979 and thereafter. To protect people close to retirement from abrupt benefit cuts, and to phase in the benefit reductions, a 5-year transitional formula was provided affecting people born from 1917 through 192That group had their benefits figured two different ways using both the transitional benefit formula, and the new benefit formula. People received the higher of the two benefits..Such large trials are unlikely in the rush to field a vaccine and the result could be a dangerous erosion of public trust. The yearly flu shot carries a risk of less than 1 in 1 million cases of the neurological complication Guillain-Barre syndrome. But even with that low a risk, close to half of Americans refuse to get it. … Continued