The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be 8.50 in 2021, an increase of .90 per month from 4.60 in 2020. That increase, which I earlier feared would be considerably more, was restricted by legislation enacted last fall. But even with legislation.TSCL Plays Role in Preventing Part B Premium Spike in 2021 The annual Social Security cost of living adjustment is just 1.3% this year, making it one of the lowest ever paid. But the standard monthly Medicare Part B premium increased by a modest .90, from 4.60 to 8.50, much less than TSCL initially feared it would be. TSCL's efforts to inform Congress and the.New Legislation Limits Stiff Increase Expected for 2021 Medicare Part B Premium With Medicare outlays spiraling due to outlays for COVID-19, Congress recently passed legislation to head off an expected Part B premium spike, by restricting the increase for 202TSCL has been warning about the potential of a low cost of living adjustment and spiking Medicare premiums since July of this year..A study found that setting quantity limits increases sales. Shoppers who bought soup from displays with no quantity limits purchased an average of 3.3 cans of soup. Shoppers with limits of 12 purchased an average of 7 cans. Like Velcro, the quantity limit latched onto shoppers' brains..Recently the TREA Senior Citizens League Board of Trustees traveled to Capitol Hill for a week filled with meetings. The Board was able to meet with 7 Congressional offices, including one drop-by visit with Chief of Staff Kevin Kimble and Legislative Assistant Yadira Castellanos in the office of Rep. Charles Gonzalez. Among the topics discussed were Notch Reform, anti-totalization measures, prescription drug costs, and the consumer price index for elderly..I turn 66 this year and my wife is 6Neither one of us has started Social Security. We receive health insurance through my employer. Do we need to sign up for Medicare yet?.Last week President Trump announced he will once again ask Congress to pass more economic stimulus legislation that he insists must include a payroll tax cut. In other words, he wants to cut the amount of money that is paid into Social Security and Medicare by today's workers the money that funds the checks sent out to those who receive payments and pays for the health care of seniors each month..He purchased it on his first trip to the dealership after receiving an offer in the mail of payments of a month. Instead of a payment that low, though, he wound up owing 0+ a month for five years. His auto loan charges 18% interest. My brother couldn't pass a credit check from a legitimate lender. He's had numerous problems with debt collectors over the years, although he and his wife still own their home with no mortgage now. Do you have any advice?.At a prescription drug forum in Central Virginia in November 2019, I heard from seniors who share these feelings. They're tired of seeing their drug costs rising. They're tired of having no way to understand why these prices continue to spike, and they're tired of lawmakers who refuse to act on an issue that impacts millions of seniors and families across our country each day..Using this approach would put low to middle benefit recipients on more equal footing. The draw- back however, is that people with higher benefits would experience a benefit cut. They would not receive a COLA based on the benefit that they actually receive, and the dollar amount would be lower than what they would have received under current law. While that loss would be relatively small at first, it would compound and rapidly grow deeper over time. It would tend to lower the total amount of income that retirees with higher benefits could expect to receive from Social Security. This sort of proposed change to the COLA would quite likely encounter fierce push back, particularly from those affected, and even from middle-income people who delayed their retirement perhaps by as much as 4 years or more to allow their benefit to grow to its maximum..The Republicans say that is a form of government price controls and interferes with the free market. That's why Majority Leader McConnell refuses to bring the Grassley-Wyden bill up for debate in the Senate. That bill differs in how it would lower drug prices but Senator McConnell opposes it because it would, in his opinion, still interfere with the free market and also because health care will be a big issue in the elections this year.
