Blog Now Serving Ncsls Elections CoverageRemember "Flo"? In 1999 she was the blond, perky, mature lady who came onto our TV screens telling us that she was here "to tell seniors about changes that affect our medicines." She would end by saying "I don't want big government in my medicine cabinet." Flo implied that, if Medicare provided a drug benefit for seniors, it would stifle research and development of new life-saving drugs coming to market and restrict access to drugs a patient was already taking..Medicare is trying to nudge people towards using less expensive older drugs, as this story describes. Most of us jump at the chance to lower our drug costs whenever we can, but sometimes the alternative may not work as well. If this happens to you, I strongly suggest that you take the letter from Medicare and show it to your doctor. I'm willing to bet your doctor won't be pleased to see Medicare "prescribing" other drugs for his or her patients..Claim a health law exemption if under 65 and uninsured. If you did not have health coverage in some or all of 2014, you might qualify for an exemption. As of September 30, 2014, the website lists 22 of them here. These include reasons such as the lowest-priced coverage available would have cost more than 8% of your household income, or your individual plan was cancelled and you believe other Marketplace plans are unaffordable. To claim the exemption you can apply now. Be sure to use the right form, found on. You may also wait to claim the exemptions when you fill out your 2014 tax return, due April 15, 2015. … Continued
Blog Drilling Into The Options For Oral HealthWe have been hearing from hundreds of you who are watching the inflation numbers and eagerly looking forward to getting a high inflation boost next year. But a number of you point out an urgent problem that occurs when COLAs raise the income of people with lower incomes. The higher inflation boost can sometimes disqualify people of modest means from receiving low-income benefits such as food stamps or rental assistance..More than 45 million Social Security beneficiaries were receiving benefits by 2000. The beneficiaries who are still alive are the group that has absorbed the fullest extent of the COLA cuts to date, which compound like interest, growing deeper over time. Chaining the COLA would cut benefits for this group an additional 10% through 2025, the analysis found..Two new cosponsors Senator Cory Booker and Senator Deb Fischer signed on to the bipartisan CREATES Act, bringing the total up to thirty in the Senate. If adopted, the bill would increase competition in the prescription drug industry by encouraging generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers to introduce their products to the market more quickly. … Continued