Thrive Birth Planning In Special Situations A Celebration Of LifeThe government will announce the 2017 COLA on October 18, 2016 and it remains to be seen whether Congress will take action to protect older Americans and state Medicaid budgets from unexpectedly high Medicare Part B premium costs. In response to similar circumstances last fall, Congress passed legislation that modified the Part B premium spike to the amount it would have increased if the hold harmless provision had not gone into effect..This week, four congressional committees began crafting legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a courtesy confirmation hearing to question Congressman Tom Price, the nominee for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services position..TSCL continues working for enactment of The Notch Fairness Act, which has recently been reintroduced in both the House and Senate. Like an "old age boost" the legislation would provide Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926 with a choice of ,000 payable in four annual installments of ,250 or an improved monthly benefit. To learn more about The Notch Fairness Act, click here. … Continued
For Medical Professionals Patient EducationPresident Obama's executive actions on immigration would have provided temporary work authorization to more than 4 million undocumented immigrants and with that comes controversial access to Social Security and Medicare, the Congressional Budget Office has said. That access is particularly controversial among older voters, according to surveys by TSCL..TSCL has long supported adding vision, dental and hearing benefits to Medicare, as well as supporting legislation to lower prescription drug prices. We are waiting to see what the final bills look like that come out of the House and Senate before we determine what kind of endorsement to give..According to a recent nation-wide survey conducted by The Senior Citizens League, almost one-third of older taxpayers, 30 percent, say they itemize deductions for healthcare costs, and about 56 percent say that a portion of their Social Security benefits are taxable. "Taxpayers who may be postponing needed medical or dental services, getting glasses, or filling expensive prescriptions may want to consider doing so before the end of the year, in order to maximum the medical expense deduction in 2018," Johnson says. … Continued