This week, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial health of the programs. In addition, Senator David Vitter's Notch Fairness Act and Representative Buck McKeon's Social Security Fairness Act each gained one new cosponsor..The video features the six members of The Senior Citizens League's Board of Trustees, as well as a few members of Congress..To say the least, it is controversial and there is reason to doubt it works. We know for sure that it is incredibly expensive. Having said that, here is some of the information we have seen..This week, lawmakers in the Senate voted on three health reform bills that would have repealed and replaced parts of the ACA if enacted. All three of the bills the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Obamacare Repeal and Reconciliation Act, and the Health Care Freedom Act better known as the "skinny repeal" bill failed to win passage on the Senate floor..Under traditional Medicare with Medigap, you have greater freedom to select providers and to travel and still get coverage. Medigap is the better choice for people who divide their time between homes in two different states, or who like to travel outside the U.S. Several Medigap plans cover foreign travel emergencies. On the other hand under many Medicare Advantage plans, you would need to follow your plan rules to get in-network care and would be more limited to specific geographic areas. If you join a Medicare HMO and then have a medical emergency in other part of the country where your plan does not operate you would foot 100% of the medical bill..The hold harmless provision affects Medicare beneficiaries who have their Part B premiums automatically deducted from their Social Security payments. The law protects the Social Security benefits of those people, about 70% of all Medicare beneficiaries, when an increase in the amount of the Part B premium is greater than the amount of increase that individuals would receive in their COLA. The law prohibits a reduction to an individual's monthly Social Security benefit due to rising Medicare premiums from one year to the next..TSCL Announces Support for New Legislation.Without an emergency COLA, the financial impact of rising Medicare Part B premiums on beneficiaries is expected to vary significantly. A provision of the Social Security Act known as the "hold harmless" provision guarantees that the Social Security benefits of most seniors and the disabled will NOT be reduced when the Medicare Part B premium increases by more than the amount of that person's COLA. The Part B premiums will therefore be adjusted so that the monthly Social Security benefits of people protected by this provision will not be reduced from one year to the next..According to AARP, about 94% of widely-used brand-name drugs that were on the market between 2005 and 2017 nearly doubled in price. And in 2017, the average annual cost of specialty drugs - which treat complex conditions like cancer - was about ,800. In contrast, the average Social Security benefit in 2017 was just ,800.

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To learn more details about enrollment periods, visit /publications to view the fact sheet "Understanding Medicare Enrollment Periods." You can also call and say "Agent.".In the weeks ahead, The Senior Citizens League will be closely monitoring discussions in the House and Senate to repeal the ACA since they will impact older Americans in several ways. For instance, Medicare Part D beneficiaries who fall into the coverage gap or "doughnut hole" will face higher costs for their prescription drugs, and the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund that finances Medicare Part A will lose a critical stream of funding. For updates on the repeal of the ACA, visit the Legislative News section of our website, or follow TSCL on Facebook or Twitter..Support Grows for Key Bills … Continued

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American consumers have waited too long for Congress to finally make bipartisan progress on lowering prescription drug costs. At a time of rampant hyper-partisanship on Capitol Hill, I've seen glimmers of hope for how lawmakers from across the political spectrum can unite on this issue. We can't stop pushing for lower prices, because our nation's seniors deserve that level of respect, commitment, and urgency..Meditation and yogNew research has found that mindfulness meditation can actually change the structure of the brain - in a very protective way. Just a couple of weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training, developed by the University of Massachusetts' Center for Mindfulness, improves concentration and attention since strong focus of attention is one of the central techniques. Meditation training has long been used as a technique for reducing blood pressure, stress and anxiety and also has helped people quit smoking by learning to "decouple" the state of craving from the act of smoking..Learn all your options for health and drug plans by using Medicare's health plan finder FIRST: We recommend using this tool rather than attempting to check plans or insurers individually, which could rapidly become overwhelming and aggravating. You can contact insurers for details later when you have narrowed down your best bets. … Continued

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