It would be unlikely for the vast majority of low-income beneficiaries. That's because state and federal poverty guidelines used to determine low-income are also adjusted annually for inflation, and the income thresholds would rise roughly in tandem with Social Security benefits. Currently the federal poverty level is ,880 for individuals, and ,020 for a family of two, with slightly higher amounts for Alaska and Hawaii..It's about time. At the time of its passage, the Affordable Care Act, was labeled a "Medicare" tax and sold to the public that way. Now it is needed by the Medicare Part A Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Part A is less than five years from insolvency and faces an estimated 5 billion funding gap over the next ten years. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this tax will raise approximately .5 billion in revenue in 2021 alone..In addition, three new cosponsors Reps. Beto O'Rourke, Ralph Hall, and Brad Sherman signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act this week, bringing the total up to ninety-eight. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of state and local government employees each year..TSCL Endorses Two Medicare Bills.After passing The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act late last month, Congressional leaders quickly began selecting conferees to be named on the payroll tax conference committee. The bi-partisan panel will negotiate details beyond the 60-day payroll tax holiday extension and "doc fix" that will expire March 1st..Over the weekend it was announced that the Senate and the White House were able to come to an agreement about new legislation and it will be presented today. However, reports are that the GOP bill will cost about trillion while the House-passed bill has a cost of trillion. That means there will have to be major negotiations between the House and Senate once the Senate finally passes its bill..That may be okay for some, but I have had such great success. Why change to something else and put myself through all those fears again? My solution right now is to change where I purchase the medication. Canada, here I come and the devil with Medicare..The TSCL poll found seniors were closely split over the two other leading approaches to address the disability program's solvency. Forty-eight percent favored tightening Social Security's disability eligibility requirements and conducting more annual eligibility reviews to reduce fraud. Fifty-one percent favor requiring high wage earners to pay Social Security taxes on all of their incomes. "TSCL believes that the only way Congress will forge an agreement is through bipartisan efforts that use a combination of the two approaches," Cates states. What do you think about issues affecting seniors? Take a poll. Visit TSCL's website at..Access to the plans is highly variable. While some areas of the country have dozens of Medicare Advantage plans, rural counties often have very limited choices, or as little as just one insurer. Frequently, older and sicker enrollees discover that Medicare Advantage plan out-of-pocket spending due to chronic health conditions, or a hospitalization can be much higher than with a Medigap plan. Medigap supplements cover most, or even all, out of pocket costs.
