So how can we best use this momentum from our vaccine experience to build relationships with drug manufacturers and lower costs for consumers? TSCL is closely watching for drug price negotiation provisions to be included in legislation this year. What portion of your Social Security benefit do you spend on healthcare costs? Please take TSCL's 2021 Retirement Survey..Medical: Medicare recently reported the lowest growth in healthcare costs on record based on spending through 20But that's not the case for seniors. In fact, since 2000, Medicare Part B costs rose as fast as the cost of gasoline. Seniors will receive notification this month of their Medicare Part B premium for 201It's also important to check your Part D drug coverage. Medicare Part D's infamous drug coverage gap, aka the "doughnut hole," is slowly closing a widely touted benefit of the 2010 healthcare law. Several Part D costs, like the "standard" deductible, and the out-of-pocket costs thresholds, will be lower in 201But for the first time since Part D started, the initial coverage amount, the amount all seniors use when they fill a prescription, will be less generous by 0. That means you may hit the doughnut hole coverage gap sooner..The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House GOP's American Health Care Act that passed in the House cuts federal spending on Medicaid by 4 billion over ten years, a funding cut of 25%. The Senate's health care bill would cut Medicaid even more deeply, by using a more slowly-growing inflation index to adjust reimbursements to states..Representative John Larson introduced H.R. 860 on January 30, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means..My husband and I are not yet 65 or enrolled in Medicare. We are still working primarily so we can get health insurance coverage through our employers. We're worried about the effect of "Obamacare" on our insurance premiums and whether our employers will drop coverage. Will Members of Congress give up their taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits? I think they should be required to get Obamacare benefits like the rest of us!.Symptoms of the two illnesses are similar, and when seasonal influenza season arrives later this year it will be important for public-health authorities and health workers to be able to differentiate between the two viruses. Such a test would help determine whether Covid-19 infections are experiencing a second wave, or if patients are showing up with normal seasonal flu..drives up hospital and other costs for Medicare beneficiaries,.It depends. If you meet the requirements you're OK to delay. It's important to keep in mind that failure to enroll in Medicare on time is one of the most costly mistakes that working Medicare-age seniors make. You can wind up getting hit with late enrollment penalties that you'll have to pay every year for the rest of your life. Those penalties could drain thousands in extra Medicare costs from you and your wife's savings and income..Tax Reform Work Continues in House and Senate
