The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is barred from negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, senior citizens enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices for their prescriptions. What are you doing to correct this unfair policy?.The last time the Medicare Part A Trust Fund was forecast to become insolvent was in 200At the time, the Part A Trust Fund was forecast to become insolvent by 201Lucky for us that never happened - in 2017 at least. Congress enacted the 2010 Affordable Care Act which changed Medicare taxes in two ways. It added a 0.9% surtax to the amount of Medicare payroll taxes paid by high earning individuals with wages over 0,000. This was on top of the 1.45% that workers currently pay on their wages. A second provision affecting the more affluent, imposed a 3.8% tax on a portion of net investment income. Estates and trusts can also be subject to this tax..Research Medicare Advantage health plans that offer some dental benefits. Medicare's fall Open Enrollment period starts October 15th and runs through December If you are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan it's a good idea to compare plans in your area every year anyway, and switch if you can find better coverage at a lower cost. You need to do the math on the deductibles, co-pays or co-insurance for the comprehensive benefits offered, including hospital, doctors, outpatient services, and prescription drugs that you already take before switching. Pay close attention to the fine print on additional benefits. Those dental benefits may only be in the form of discounts with network providers. TSCL strongly recommends AGAINST dropping a Medigap supplement to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan solely based on additional benefits like dental coverage. Those additional benefits can end suddenly, especially when plans cut costs to compensate for lower government reimbursements, so don't bet your Medigap coverage on them..Medical costs are a big expense in retirement that many retirees tend to underestimate. But healthcare isn't always the biggest item. Housing takes the biggest chunk of the household budget in retirement. Here are five of the biggest housing expenses to whittle down in 2014:.Rep. Matt Cartwright represents Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District, which includes Schuylkill County and portions of Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and Northampton Counties. Cartwright serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform..Effective since 1977, the GPO prohibits retired spouses, widows, and widowers from receiving the full benefits based on his or her spouse's employment. The WEP was passed in 1983 and reduces the benefit of a retired or disabled worker who also receives a federal, state or local government annuity based on his or her earnings by up to 60 percent..John, age 66, is already enrolled in Medicare in 200He pays .40 per month. Because there is no COLA, and the basic Medicare Part B increases, his Part B premium will remain .40 because he's protected by the hold harmless provision. His premium will be adjusted to prevent a reduction in his Social Security in 20His wife Jane is 6She's not eligible to enroll in Medicare Part B until 20Her monthly premium would be an estimated 4 instead of .40. She won't have "hold harmless" protection until 2011..When a pharmaceutical industry leader attempted to avoid questions about the pharmaceutical company representative buying alcohol for doctors, McCaskill pressed them for a yes-or-no answer. Ultimately, she admitted there were no rules to prohibit this from taking place, and defended the industry as simply trying to communicate information about prescription medications..My brand name drug is supposed to go generic this year. Will my drug plan cover the generic and if so will I be notified?
