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The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support continue to grow for several of its key bills this week, and we thank the new cosponsors for their support. In the months ahead, we will continue to advocate for the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, the Social Security 2100 Act, the Fair COLA for Seniors Act, and get adoption of legislation that would lower the cost of prescription drugs..While Medicare covers emergency room care, unless your father was admitted to the hospital as an inpatient, Medicare Part A may not have covered his hospital stay. If emergency room doctors held your dad "under observation" or as an "outpatient," then his stay was covered under Medicare Part B, and there may have been expensive bills for that hospital stay depending on what other type of insurance your dad had in addition to Medicare. In addition, Medicare has strict rules about the length of stays in the hospital, in order to qualify for limited nursing home coverage for rehabilitation. Medicare does not cover most long - term stays in nursing homes..Action on Capitol Hill remained slow this week, as both Houses of Congress have adjourned for the August recess. However, The Senior Citizens League did see support grow for two key pieces of legislation..people who are still working and pay Medicare Part B by check,.Interest on a home mortgage on loans up to million if you signed your mortgage prior to December 15, 2017, or up to 0,000 on loans signed after that date..I'm 62 and my wife is 60. Last year she and I signed up for a new health plan on the federal health exchange. We qualified for lower premiums, but we still have trouble paying for all the out-of-pocket costs, because of the high deductibles. Now it's time to start all over. We're wondering if we should let our current plan automatically renew, or if we need to go through the hassle of shopping for new plans all over again..Someone calls stating they are with Medicare and they need to update your information. Medicare never calls or visits anyone and already has the information it needs to send your cards..What do you think about ways to strengthen the COLA? Take our 2019 Social Security survey at..Changes in health. Chronic conditions like diabetes, pulmonary disease, dementia, and others, worsen over time. People with those conditions need increasing help. A sudden hospitalization could be life threatening if she has no one to care for her when she comes home.

Medicaid Issue Brief Medicaid Restructuring Under The American Health Care Act And Nonelderly Adults With Disabilities

On Monday, President Obama released his .066 trillion budget blueprint for fiscal 201His plan puts an end to the so-called "sequester" and increases spending for defense and discretionary programs by 7 percent. Upon releasing the blueprint, he said, "I'm not going to accept a budget that locks in sequestration going forward. It would be bad for our security and bad for our growth. I want to work with Congress to replace mindless austerity with smart investments.".One TSCL member Barbara B., 75 of Indiana recently told us: "It's been 36 months since I've had any raise in my net operating Social Security, but my actual household costs continue to go up. This isn't fair to retirees." Barbara, who is now 75, retired 9 years ago. Like many seniors around the country, she feels that her Social Security benefits are not keeping up with inflation..This week, The Senior Citizens League's Board of Trustees and legislative team held meetings with several Members of Congress and their top staff to discuss key issues affecting seniors. In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to the CPI-E Act, and negotiations between the House-Senate Conference Committee continued. … Continued

State Category Medicaid Chip Medicaid Managed Care Market Tracker Medicaid Mco State Level Enrollment Data

This new data strengthens the argument that focusing on negotiating prices for the relatively small number of drugs that make up a disproportionately large amount of Medicare spending could help reduce the costs of prescription drugs to Medicare and the patients who use them..Incredibly, according to a legal opinion obtained by TSCL in 2009, Totalization with Mexico may give Mexican immigrants greater rights to U.S. Social Security benefits than U.S. senior citizens currently enjoy. The proposed U.S./Mexico Totalization Agreement would be based on a contractual promise made by the United States government for the benefit of individual Mexican workers who qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits under the terms of that agreement..If Congress fails to prevent a default on the federal debt, older Americans will be impacted in two major ways. First, Social Security benefits would be delayed, and millions of seniors living on fixed incomes would suffer financially. Second, health plans that cover Medicare beneficiaries and providers who treat Medicare patients would likely see postponements in their reimbursements from the federal government. Access to quality medical care could become more difficult for older Americans if that occurs. … Continued