I live on a fixed income of less than 0 dollars a month. I live in public housing for seniors, and during the pandemic, I had to rely on help from my children to eat every month. I was approved for 6 a month in food stamps. A blessing! However, when you live in public housing, and then get a cost-of-living adjustment, it affects your eligibility for public benefits. In my state, the formula they use took 30% of my COLA. Then because of the COLA your food stamps can be lowered. What's the point of getting a raise? Something should change about the formula. - A.R., IL..We have been told repeatedly that the virus will not simply go away. It is here to stay and until effective treatments and/or a vaccine are found, we must continue wearing masks when in public, keeping our distance from others when out and about, and as much as possible, staying at home and away from others..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..The revenues raised from the taxation of Social Security benefits are used to pay Social Security and Medicare benefits. In 2017, the Social Security trust fund received .9 billion of its 5.6 billion in revenues from the taxation of benefits and the Medicare trust fund received .2 billion of its 9.4 billion in revenues..Now, as we draw close to the end of the year, the window for Congress to take major action to lower prescription drug prices is beginning to close. Concern is growing that the prospects of a substantial drug price reduction bill may get lost in the politics surrounding the 2020 election. Legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs is in the House, and a bipartisan bill that would cap out-of-pocket Part D costs at ,100 a year is stalled in the Senate. The whole effort is fiercely being fought by the pharmaceutical industry, and the outcome remains unclear..Congressional Recess Begins.House Adjourns for Recess.Also this week, seventeen new cosponsors signed on to Rep. Rodney Davis's Social Security Fairness Act, bringing the total up to thirty-eight. In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to Sen. Mark Begich's Social Security Fairness Act in the Senate, bringing the total to four. Both bills, if signed into law, would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL firmly believes that the GPO and the WEP should be repealed immediately so that dedicated public servants receive the retirement security they deserve. H.R. 1795 and S. 896 would do just that, and we were pleased to see eighteen new cosponsors announce their support this week..Health experts caution explicitly against using cleaning products in those ways.
