Civil And Criminal JusticeThe data certainly suggests this is the case. The years in which inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Workers has been the highest, the difference in the chained CPI was the greatest. The average difference between the CPI-W and the chained CPI is 0.3 tenths of a percentage point. But in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina sent gas prices through the roof, the CPI-W paid a COLA of 4.1% the following year. The chained CPI would only have paid 3.4% - a difference of 0.7 tenths of a percentage point. In 2008 the CPI-W paid a COLA of 5.8% the following year. The chained CPI would have only paid 5.2%, a difference of 0.6 tenths of a percentage point..what you will pay for it - and do this every year. If the drug is expensive,.If you're like most Medicare beneficiaries, you rarely make changes to your health or drug plans, but this is one of the biggest financial mistakes you can make in retirement. Insurers make numerous changes to drug and health plans that increase your out–of–pocket costs every year. Your health changes, and the plans that once were your best deal, may be full of high cost surprises now. Every year new plans, even new plans offered by your current insurer, compete for your business by offering similar or better coverage, for lower costs. Comparing your Medicare plan coverage every year and making changes when it's in your best interest, is one of the most important financial habits to get into. … Continued
New Ulm Medical Center Honored As Industry Of The YearA survey by The Senior Citizens League indicates that Social Security benefits have lost more than one-third of their purchasing power over the past decade. Do you support calculating the COLA using an index that more accurately measures seniors' cost of living?.The cuts in federal aid to Meals on Wheels programs may end up costing the government if seniors need to move to nursing homes. The Center for Effective Government released a report estimating that the cuts would add 9 million a year in Medicaid costs for the remaining months of fiscal 201The group said that even if only 350 people were admitted to nursing homes due to missing out on Meals on Wheels deliveries and then stayed there at least a year, the savings from the sequester cuts would be lost. The Medicaid share of keeping someone in a nursing home for a year is about ,878..According to the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2020, 99% of Medicare Advantage and drug plans require prior authorization for at least some health services and prescription drugs. Traditional Medicare, on the other hand, does not require prior authorization for the majority of services, but may do so for some Part B drugs administered in doctors' offices, such as chemotherapy treatments. Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans typically use prior authorization for higher cost services, such as inpatient hospital care, high tech diagnostic scans and tests, and more expensive prescription drugs. … Continued