A Look At Recent Proposals To Control Drug Spending By Medicare And Its BeneficiariesTo learn more about how work affects your benefits, see the publication "How Work Affects Your Benefits," SSA Publication No. 05-1006You can find it at or by calling toll free at..How Can We Expand Social Security When The Program Is Running Out of Money?.A majority of the 60 million senior and disabled Americans who receive Social Security depend on it for at least 50 percent of their total income, and one–third of all beneficiaries rely on it for 90 percent or more of their income. To help protect the buying power of benefits, TSCL supports bipartisan legislation called the Fair COLA for Seniors Act that would base COLAs on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. To learn more, visit. … Continued
Courage Kenny Sponsors Adaptive Day On The LakeSeventy-eight percent of participants in TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey think Congress should establish an out-of-pocket spending cap. In December of last year, prescription drug legislation, H.R.3, the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act was passed by the House. In addition to allowing Medicare to negotiate drug costs, the House bill would cap Part D's annual out - of - pocket costs for prescription drugs, starting at ,000 per year..This creates problems especially in emergency room visits when the patient may require pricey services such as those from an air ambulance, doctor or other provider that does not have a contract with the patient's Medicare Advantage plan. When health plans get such bills, they can reject the claim and patients wind up on the hook for the "balance bill." While the average emergency room visit is just above 0, some patients have received surprise bills greater than 0,000 from out-of-network providers..A 2004 law forbids the payment of Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants in the U.S. unless they receive legal work authorization at some point. The scope of that law appears much more vague under Totalization. It appears that illegal Mexican workers would only need to return to Mexico to file a claim for benefits. Under current policy, once a worker becomes eligible for Social Security, the U.S. Social Security Administration determines entitlement based on all earnings, even from jobs worked illegally. … Continued