If you own a pet and have been to the vet lately, the bill may have taken a big bite out of your budget. Like human healthcare, the cost of vet services is growing several times faster than inflation. But unlike human healthcare, the cost of vet services has been growing even faster than the cost of medical services from your doctor 68% faster in 2013 alone. And although you may have Medicare or some other type of health insurance for yourself, chances are you don't have health insurance for your pet meaning you foot 100% of the vet bills..These actions are what families do, but they are not without long term costs to retirement security. Some of you have reported going into debt, most often due to high medical costs. In fact, a Gallup poll in July of 2020 found that 15% of the adults contacted reported at least one person in their household had medical debt that will not be repaid either in full or in part within the next 12 months..We at TSCL urge you not to put off medical care if you need it. If you are worried about being infected with the virus call your doctor's or dentist's office and ask them what Covid-19 precautions they are following to protect their patients. Many doctors have taken extra special measures, including requiring that everyone wear a mask and keeping people out of waiting rooms until the actual time of their appointment. Many waiting rooms have far fewer chairs in them, and they are spaced far apart for those patients awaiting their appointments..It turned out that Flo was working for the deep pocketed pharmaceutical industry. They successfully used her ad to sink major legislation proposed by President Bill Clinton to add a voluntary drug benefit to Medicare. It wasn't until 2003 that the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, which added the Part D drug benefit to Medicare, was finally signed into law by President George W. Bush. But, although the bill provided a drug benefit, it specifically prohibited Medicare from negotiating prices with drug manufacturers, even though Medicare negotiates prices for almost every other service and for Part B drugs. High drug prices put patient's lives at risk every day when people can't afford to fill their prescriptions..Editor's note: Telephone etiquette has changed! Ask around, and you'll probably discover that many people are letting their voice mail or answering systems screen calls. This is no longer considered rude - but acting in self - defense. Protect yourself from scam. Be defensive:.In counting out-of-pocket spending, Medicare does not include the cost of monthly Part D premiums or the cost of any drugs that aren't listed on your drug plan's formulary. And, even after hitting ,350, out-of-pocket spending would not end there, because Part D has no annual out-of-pocket maximum. The TrOOP cost is the amount you must spend before you qualify for the catastrophic stage of Part D coverage, when Medicare steps in and co-insurance goes down. But you still are required to pay a minimum of .60 for generic drugs or a 5% coinsurance for brand drugs.."New Alzheimer's Drug Clouds Outlook For Medicare Premiums Next Year," Mark Miller, Reuters, July 12, 202"How Everyone On Medicare Could End Up Paying For The Pricey New Alzheimer's Drug," July 10, 202"Medicare Evaluating Coverage for ,000 Alzheimer's Drug," Ricardo Alonso Zaldivar, Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press, July 13, 2021..Key Prescription Drug Bill Gains Support.When it comes to strengthening Social Security's finances, Members of Congress only have two choices - to cut spending on benefits, or increase program revenues. Typically in the past, the focus has been on proposals that would cut benefits rather than raising revenues. Proponents of cuts argue that benefits must be cut because Social Security is insolvent as currently structured. They point to the fact that there are fewer workers to provide payroll tax revenues for swelling number of retirees.
