Blog public policy 7 - Atavista Farm

Nearly, 1.5 million people are affected by the WEP, which reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, a teacher who spends his or her summers working a second job or a police officer who leaves the force after years of service but is not quite ready to retire can see their benefits reduced by as much as 40 percent. However, a similar worker with a private sector pension would not see this kind of reduction. We are punishing public sector employees such as our teachers, firefighters, and police officers.."The Outlook for Major Federal Trust Funds: 2020 to 2030," Congressional Budget Office, September 2020..And there is this report from Vox News:.While a multitude of new mandates and burdensome administrative requirements have been layered on over the past several years, payments to physicians have not only failed to keep pace with inflation, they have, in some cases, decreased in real terms..During the meetings, the following issues were discussed: Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, Social Security Notch fairness, Social Security Totalization agreement reform, Social Security credits earned for work done illegally, and repeal of both the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. Support was expressed for many of these key issues, and TSCL looks forward to working with these offices in the future..Six Tax Moves To Make Before Year End.Two House Bills Gain New Support.Congress has only two ways to address long-term funding fixes for Social Security - benefit cuts and tax revenue increases. TSCL surveys indicate that people who receive Social Security don't support most benefit cuts, and feel that the amount that beneficiaries receive isn't adequate to live on over longer retirements. The average benefit received by disabled workers is lower than the average retirement benefit - ,145 vs. ,235..According to Johnson's calculations, the Social Security beneficiaries who are most likely will not to see an increase in their net monthly check are those with benefits below ,264 per month. These individuals will once again be subject to hold harmless in 201Their COLA will be completely offset by the Part B premiums, but their Social Security benefits will not be reduced. "The net result will be no growth in the benefit for the third year in a row," Johnson says. "And that leaves nothing to meet other rising costs, such as Medigap premiums, Part D premiums, out-of-pocket costs, or anything else," Johnson notes.

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Medicare Advantage plans combine both parts of Medicare, and the health plans are required to cover everything that is covered under original Medicare. However, your provider may be reporting your doctor's orders to your Medicare Advantage plan in order to get prior authorization for your CT scan. Most Medicare Advantage plans routinely require prior authorization to manage your care and to prevent excess use of care that has not been documented as medically necessary. This practice protects you from surprise bills, and confirms that the provider is authorized to bill your Medicare Advantage plans for your care..TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 3118 and H.R. 1179, and we were pleased to see support grow for both of them this week..Rx for Medicare's Doctors' Pay Formula … Continued

Health Reform Press Release Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton And Medicare For All
According to an article in Statnews.com, "It is looking increasingly like the U.S. may not experience a flu season this year. To date, fewer than 1,600 people in the entire country have tested positive for influenza since the 2020-2021 flu monitoring period began last October; of those, 32 were recorded in the week ending Feb. 2Most flu seasons, somewhere between 100 and 200 children die from flu; so far this season there has been a single pediatric flu death. Experts believe mask wearing, social distancing, and enhanced hand hygiene practices adopted for Covid-19 control are contributing to the low numbers of circulating flu viruses.".In addition to rapidly growing Medigap premiums, retirees also must pay for premiums for Medicare Part B and their drug plans. The combination takes a bigger bite out of Social Security benefits and other retirement resources when COLAs fail to keep pace. "The financial drain on benefits is difficult to anticipate, and many retirees don't have adequate savings to begin with," Johnson says..The average Social Security benefit today is only ,240 a month. That's only 25% above the federal poverty level. More than one -third of all recipients depend on Social Security for 90% of their retirement income. … Continued