How the Categories Compare Between the CPI-W and the CPI-E.Do you suspect someone of committing disability fraud? Learn how to report fraud online at the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General or call or write the Fraud Hotline..Learn if there's an older, less expensive drug that you can try first. If you have a copy of your drug plan's formulary you may want to take that with you to the doctor's office to assist with checking an alternate medication, and what you will pay out-of-pocket..No: 70%.High premiums don't necessarily purchase better coverage. The generic blood pressure medication, Lisinopril, is one of the most commonly used prescriptions by Medicare beneficiaries. The least expensive Part D plan charges 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..TSCL recently released an analysis of the proposal that estimates the chained CPI would cut the growth in average benefits of ,100 today by about ,634 over the course of a 25-year retirement, and that assumes that the economy becomes more stable soon. Nevertheless, the reductions in COLA growth compound over time, and are deepest when seniors are the oldest and sickest. By the time seniors are in their late 80s or 90s, when they are most likely to have chronic health problems, monthly benefits would be about 5 lower using the chained CPI..The move is undoubtedly an attempt to head off political fall-out from what is turning into a major issue with senior voters in 2014 - President Obama's broken promise, "If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan." According to a recent TSCL poll, 58% of seniors say that they are worried that their health plan could be cancelled this year. Seniors aren't the only ones who are worried - so are Members of Congress - from both sides of the aisle..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. Glenn Thompson signed on to the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act, bringing the total up to forty-nine. If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to comprehensively prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within the two programs a problem that TSCL believes must be addressed in order to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly..Even when patients do seek treatment at a hospital mainly staffed by doctors in their insurance plans, they might wind up being treated by an out-of-network specialist. Worsening the problem, insurers have narrowed their networks of preferred doctors over the years in hopes of steering patients away from hospitals to lower-cost outpatient facilities and doctors..Cuts to Meals On Wheels Having "Devastating Impact".May 15, 2013 Seniors have lost almost one-third of their buying power since 2000, according to the Annual Survey of Senior Costs, released today by The Senior Citizens League. TSCL is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan senior advocacy groups..Here are three things you can start doing right now to lower your Medicare costs.Of the respondents, 19% said they had used bleach on food, 18% said they had applied household cleaners to their skin, 10% said they had misted themselves with disinfectant sprays, 6% had inhaled vapors from the cleaners, and 4% had drunk or gargled diluted bleach solutions, soapy water, or other disinfectants. copay for the drug, and the plan's monthly premium is just .50 in the zip code used in the analysis. The most expensive plan charges a co-pay of .19, and the plan has a monthly premium of .30. Counting premiums, that's a difference of ,055.88 for the entire year..The pharmacies providing vaccines at stores include CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart, and Costco, as well as networks of independent operators. Not all the chains will immediately be taking part in every state, the White House said..TSCL hopes that most of these people who lost SNAP benefits at least received emergency stimulus payments in 2020 and 2021 to help cover the loss of these benefits. But we are highly concerned that a high COLA could have similar unintended consequences for low income retirees in 2022..Medicare fraud, abuse, and wasteful spending are problems that continue to affect all Americans. Attorney General Eric Holder estimates that fraudulent Medicare activities cost taxpayers an estimated billion a year. The staggering figure has contributed to rising costs that are passed on to beneficiaries. Lawmakers and administrators are seeking alternative measures to reign in Medicare's out-of-control costs to seniors..An ongoing study of the buying power of Social Security benefits, a special project of TSCL, has found that, since 2000, COLAs increased Social Security benefits by a total of 46%, but the typical expenses of older households grew more than twice as fast - 96.3%. For every 0 a retired household spent in 2000, the same household can only buy about worth of goods and services today.
