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This week, The Senior Citizens League released its annual "Loss of Buying Power" study, which found that Social Security benefits have lost 34 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. In addition, lawmakers in the House and Senate left Washington for the holiday recess..Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee Means Committee approved the largest expansion of Medicare since the addition of drug benefits two decades ago..All of this adds up to less money for retirement, and greater dependence on Social Security as insurance against retirement savings that are so closely tied to the value of equities and housing. "This situation was caused by COVID-19 and illustrates why Congress needs to strengthen Social Security and Medicare benefits," Johnson says. The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that would boost Social Security benefits for all retirees and supports legislation that would lower Medicare costs..This week, lawmakers in the House passed legislation to repeal the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board, and The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new piece of legislation..Senator Mitt Romney recently led a bipartisan Senate group in introducing legislation aimed at fixing Social Security and Medicare's funding shortfalls. If nothing changes, the programs' trust funds are expected to become insolvent in 15 years. If that should occur, benefits would be reduced by about 22 percent in order to match the amount of payroll taxes coming in..With no increase in Social Security benefits over the past two.and if your drug plan doesn't cover it, or drops coverage, you may want to go.Prescription Drug Re-Importation Making safe, secure re-importation a reality.."Hearing On The Effects Of COVID-19 On Social Security," Testimony of Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, July 17, 2020. "Biden Has Promised To Reform Social Security - Some Changes Could Come As Soon As This Year," Lorie Konish, CNBC, January 23, 2021.

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The twenty-nine member budget conference seemed to reach a standstill this week. Three weeks remain before the official December 13th deadline, but House and Senate appropriators requested a top-line spending number before November 22nd the start of the week-long Thanksgiving recess and the conferees failed to deliver..Another initiative announced on Monday will improve the quality and safety requirements for nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. The new rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will update the standards that have been in place for nearly twenty-five years. According to the administration, it will "improve quality of life, enhance person-centered care and services for residents in nursing homes, improve resident safety, and bring these regulatory requirements into closer alignment with current professional standards.".Even when patients do seek treatment at a hospital mainly staffed by doctors in their insurance plans, they might wind up being treated by an out-of-network specialist. Worsening the problem, insurers have narrowed their networks of preferred doctors over the years in hopes of steering patients away from hospitals to lower-cost outpatient facilities and doctors. … Continued

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Apply for Extra Help. Extra Help is the Medicare program for low-income seniors that can help with most, or all of the cost of your drug plan premium, deductible, and co-pays. You also get valuable coverage in the Part D coverage gap. If you qualify, you would pay between - for each drug. Apply even if you aren't sure, because the income requirements are not as stringent as those for State Pharmacy assistance programs..The income thresholds for the federal poverty levels are adjusted using a somewhat faster growing index than the one used to determine the COLA. Unlike the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which does not survey the costs of people over the age of 62, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers CPI-U includes the spending patterns of both younger workers and people over the age of 6Consequently the federal poverty limits increase somewhat faster than the CPI-W and today's COLAs. The 2016 poverty levels reflect a 0.1% increase over 2015 rather than zero like the Social Security COLA..Wednesday's vote marks an important step in the confirmation process, and she now faces only one more vote from the full Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that he hopes to schedule a final confirmation vote before the end of the month. The overwhelming display of support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday means that Burwell's path to confirmation will likely be an easy one. Nonetheless, TSCL will continue to keep a close eye on the process in the coming days. … Continued