A letter to the editor of The Topeka Capital Journal describes one such case of Medicare's over-compensation problem. The writer said that after receiving a back brace for treatment of spinal stenosis, the local back therapy center billed Medicare ,300. Yet the writer found the same brace from the same manufacturer online for Medicare approved 4 for the brace. The writer said that when he contacted the Medicare fraud unit he was told that 4 was the correct Medicare - approved payment to providers for the brace and was told there was nothing Medicare could do about the over-pricing..According to an article they wrote in The Hill, "Ten thousand Americans turn 65 every day, which means the number of Medicare beneficiaries who need easy access to vaccines is constantly increasing. Vaccines are particularly important for older adults because our immune systems weaken with time. Adults age 50 and over are particularly susceptible to many vaccine-preventable diseases and account for a disproportionate number of the deaths and illnesses they cause. This is why older adults are most at risk of developing severe illness from coronavirus..In fact, 88% of people who planned to retire in the next 10 years did not know what factors determine the maximum Social Security benefit that they could achieve. Benefits are based on the age at retirement, the number of years worked and the earnings record that your benefits will be based on..–A majority of older voters think Social Security should be strengthened, but are opposed to cutting benefits, says a national survey by The Senior Citizens League. The new national survey found that older voters favor some changes that provide the program with more revenue, and provide retirees with modestly higher benefits in the future. According to TSCL's 2016 Senior Survey, 71 percent of older voters think Social Security should be expanded to provide modestly higher retirement benefits and more fair cost of living adjustments. An analysis for TSCL estimates that if COLAs were indexed using a "senior" consumer price index - the government's Consumer Price Index for the Elderly - Social Security recipients would receive a 1.3 percent increase instead of an estimated 0.2 percent COLA in 2017..Many seniors in our community struggle month to month to make ends meet on budgets that just can't cover today's high cost of living. Today's troubled economy is leaving the elderly in a financial pinch, particularly since a large majority of senior citizens rely on Social Security benefits as their main source of income..Doesn't Social Security pay money to many people who are not really paying into it? - L.V..If you get a call from someone that you don't know who is asking for personal information, don't be polite - hang up or shut the door. If you do get such a call about new Medicare cards, you may help other retirees avoid scams by calling your local newspaper and TV stations to alert the local news media to the attempt. Tell journalists what almost happened to you and ask for their help to get the word out to other retirees..You are unmarried;.The 12-member bi-partisan panel failed to compromise after a nearly three-month effort. Ultimately, the committee couldn't come to terms with a common ideology of taxation and spending by the November 23rd deadline. "Despite our inability to bridge the committee's significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation's fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve," Senator Patty Murray and Representative Jeb Hensarling acknowledged in a joint written statement.
