This week, in the days leading up to the five-week August recess, Members of the House focused on a series of tax extension bills and Members of the Senate debated cybersecurity legislation. Meanwhile, one House Subcommittee met to discuss the removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards, and The Senior Citizens League saw support grow for three key pieces of legislation..Cook big batches of soups, stews and casseroles, and freeze extrMake big batches of soups, stews and casseroles, then freeze servings for one or two. All use less expensive cuts of meats, poultry, and fish. Many can be stretched and made all the more delicious with the addition of vegetables and cooked dry beans. Save the most by making your own stocks, rather than buying the heavily sodium-laden variety off the shelf. A simple stock or stew base requires only carrots, onion, and celery, perhaps some garlic, water, and a small amount of salt. Try growing your own parsley and thyme to add year round. Recycle yogurt, cottage cheese and other small plastic containers for freezer containers. Mark with contents and date..The suppressed growth in Social Security benefits not only creates ongoing benefit adequacy issues for retirees, but also Medicare budget problems when the COLA is not sufficient to cover rising Part B premiums for large numbers of beneficiaries. When the dollar amount of the annual Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the dollar amount of an individual's annual cost of living adjustment, the Social Security benefits of about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by the hold-harmless provision in the Social Security Act. The Medicare Part B premium of those individuals is reduced to prevent their net Social Security benefits from being lower than the year before..Medicare pays for a wide range of services including many preventive benefits, but routine eye care is not one of them. Medicare-eligible adults with diabetes can, however, get a dilated eye exam to check for diabetic eye disease. The patient's primary.How Much of Your Social Security Is Taken By Medicare Costs?.Second, the end of the 2020 fiscal year is drawing ever nearer, and Congress needs to pass legislation to fund the government for fiscal year 2021, which begins on September And finally, the end of July and beginning of August, the month that Congress traditionally is in recess..Under current law, immigrants who work without legal authorization, but who later gain legal status, aren't prosecuted for using fraudulent or even stolen Social Security numbers. Those who kept evidence of earnings, like W2s, could later reinstate unauthorized earnings under a valid Social Security number and legally claim benefits based on those illegal earnings. Suspicious wage reports remain in the Earnings Suspense File until the Social Security Administration receives evidence to link the unidentified earnings to a valid work-authorized Social Security number..Several expert witnesses such as Mr. Sanket Shah, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, emphasized the role that data analytics can have in proactively identifying patients who may be at risk for opioid addiction. Ranking Member Patty Murray said, "Data has to be easy to use, but hard to misuse," in reference to the concern that patient privacy also must be protected..Congress has the ability to prevent these reductions before they take effect, but the questions is - will it do so? Legislation proposed in 2020 would protect the retirement benefits of individuals who were born in 1960 from declining. But TSCL is concerned that some Members of Congress may balk at taking timely action. To prevent lawmakers from looking the other way, they need to hear from as many constituents as possible to take action to protect retirement benefits. "These are benefit cuts that are directly caused by COVID-19 and should be addressed by emergency legislation, or in a comprehensive bill that would correct this problem. In addition, Social Security benefits still need to be boosted for all retirees," says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton..Practice using the tool: Have your Medicare number, information about your current coverage, and a complete list of prescription drugs, including dosages and the number you need per month at hand. The Plan Finder will ask you to provide information including your zip code, current Medicare coverage, the drugs you take, the pharmacies you plan to use, and whether you want to see just Part D stand alone plans or Medicare Advantage plans or both. For meaningful results accurately enter all your prescriptions. When complete get your Drug List ID number, print it out and save it. You don't want to enter it again every time you revisit the Plan Finder and invariably you will.
