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The base Medicare Part B premium that covers doctors and hospital outpatient services increased .00 in 201Overall healthcare costs are forecast to rise 7.5% this year - more than four times the amount of the COLA increase..TSCL has been pushing members of Congress to include legislation to reduce the price of drugs and pass legislation to deal with the practice of surprise medical billing. We were hoping those issues would be addressed at the same time as the legislation to extend the federal health programs mentioned above..TSCL agrees, and we fear that if triggered, the IPAB's recommendations could lead to higher costs for seniors or decreased access to quality medical care. We are enthusiastic supporters of Rep. Roe's bill, and we were pleased to see it win passage in the House this week..The object is to provide at least 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by January 202In most of the agreements with the drug companies, the Department of Health and Human Services says the vaccines will be given to the American people for free if part of a vaccine campaign. Once the vaccines are approved, the program is intended to quickly deliver them to as many people as possible. The federal government has said it will cover the cost of delivery, but health-care providers can charge to administer the vaccine..TSCL receives hundreds of comments like this from Notch Babies and their families. Substantial numbers of Notch Babies believe Congress is waiting for the Notch problem to die with them. Yet Members of Congress are continuing to add their names to legislation that would correct the Notch..High Costs for Prescription Drugs More than Just Prices.Back in mid-August we reported on President Trump's executive order to stop the collection of the workers' part of the Payroll tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare. TSCL is opposed of Payroll tax cuts of any kind because they seriously jeopardize the financial viability of both Social Security and Medicare..Senate Confirms New CMS Administrator.Most Americans are under-informed about their Social Security retirement choices, and they don't mind saying so. The fact is the Social Security Administration isn't structured to provide understandable personal guidance or one-on-one counseling. It's almost totally automated and dependent on applicants having access to a computer and a good internet connection.

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If you were to start your own retirement benefit now, your benefit would be permanently reduced, and you would be giving up potentially tens of thousands of dollars in long-term Social Security income. If you delay starting Social Security as your husband is doing, you receive 100% of your own benefit at your full retirement age. The Social Security Administration has a retirement age calculator to help..During the meetings, the following issues were discussed: Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, Social Security Notch fairness, Social Security Totalization agreement reform, Social Security credits earned for work done illegally, and repeal of both the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. Support was expressed for many of these key issues, and TSCL looks forward to working with these offices in the future..Currently the SSA uses all earnings to determine entitlement to benefits, including the earnings for jobs worked illegally. The majority of seniors responding to TSCL surveys on the topic believe that noncitizens should not be allowed to receive Social Security based on illegal work. TSCL agrees. Social Security benefits are determined on earnings and work history, regardless of whether taxes were paid or not. Because those earnings are held by Social Security in an Earnings Suspense file, non-citizens could at some point gain access to benefits based on illegal earnings. TSCL strongly supports legislation that would ban the payment of Social Security based on unauthorized work. … Continued

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"Phone Scammers and 'Tele-doctors' Charged With Preying On Seniors in Fraud Case," Victoria Knight, NPR Health News, October 7, 201"U.S. Thwarts Medicare Genetic Testing Scam," Associated Press, September 29, 2019..We realize there is a severe lack of good news these days and we sometimes fear reporting on the issues of the day can have the effect of discouraging our supporters like you..In a recent Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill questioned medical and pharmaceutical industry leaders about the financial relationship between physicians and drug companies. Pharmaceutical companies currently spend billions of dollars annually 90 percent of their marketing program on gifts, lunches, drug samples, and sponsorships of education programs for doctors without any form of public disclosure, leading many to question whether economic incentives provided by the industry cloud physicians' judgment and put profits ahead of patients. … Continued