Pressure on Congress is ramping up for immigration legislation that provides a "clear path to citizenship" for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. House GOP Members are reportedly working on several immigration bills, including two that would grant some form of legal status. Conservative pro-immigration reform groups, including business leaders and law enforcement, are pushing the House to take action, perhaps early this spring. The Senate passed an immigration reform bill last July..Several lawmakers also asked Congressman Price about comments he recently made to reform the Medicare program before the end of the year. Congressman Price told the HELP Committee Members that there are no immediate plans to reform the program, and that he has not yet discussed the topic with the new administration. Congressman Price has authored several proposals in recent years that would transform the traditional Medicare program into a "premium support" model, where beneficiaries would be given vouchers to purchase private health insurance. TSCL opposes such plans since we believe they would result in higher out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and we will continue to advocate against them in the months ahead..punitive tax penalty..Because food and fuel prices are highly volatile - subject to international crisis, wars, and disasters - Wall Street economists often exclude those costs in news reports in order to give the business community a better idea about the status of "core inflation." If less volatile items remain relatively unchanged, that tends to indicate that inflation remains stable, despite spikes in oil or food prices - a reassurance to the markets..One witness, Scott Serota, President and CEO of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, suggested a gradual shift from the current fee-for-service system toward a series of new payment models that would allow for geographic variability. Another witness, David Bronson, President of the American College of Physicians, suggested a patient-centered medical home model, where each patient would choose a physician with a specific team of caregivers. He explained that his model would result in better coordinated care for seniors..Burwell was expected to cruise through the confirmation process after she received an overwhelming display of bipartisan support during two Senate hearings that were held in May. However, a group of lawmakers set out to stall her confirmation's movement in the weeks leading up to the vote by submitting several complex inquiries about her perception of the ACA. In addition, almost every minute of the allotted debate time was used to discuss the ACA's implementation thus far, while Burwell received almost no criticism at all during the thirty hours..The Social Security 2100 Act would strengthen the program's financing by:.Retirees are rightfully anxious about financing healthcare in retirement. Some retirement experts estimate that a 65 - year - old couple who retired in 2016 would need 0,000 for medical expenses throughout retirement and 0,000 if you include the costs of long-term care..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. John Fleming signed on to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act. The total is now up to twenty-four. If signed into law, Rep. Rohrabacher's bill would prevent Social Security credits from being earned by work done illegally. Currently, those who receive "green cards" or work authorization may file a claim for Social Security benefits based on all earnings even earnings from jobs where they used stolen, invalid, or fraudulent Social Security numbers. TSCL believes that this practice must be put to an end in order to protect the integrity of the Social Security program, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week.
