Human Services School Readiness And TransitionsCMS plans to automatically enroll the seniors in participating states with an "opt-out" provision. But TSCL has concerns as to whether beneficiaries will be able to choose the best form of care and how they would be able to switch plans or return to traditional Medicare..As an indicator of low inflation, based on consumer price index data through April of this year, Johnson estimates that the COLA for 2019 will be about 1.7%percent. That number could change, since there are still five months of consumer price index data to be collected before the Social Security Administration announces the COLA in October..Social Security's combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will be fully funded until 2035 one year later than was projected in last year's report. At that point, if nothing is done by Congress, Social Security would still have the funds to pay out 80 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues alone. The Trustees also estimated that Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be fully funded until 2026, at which point the program would still be able to pay out almost 90 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues. … Continued
Health Health Innovations DatabaseThe survey found that a person receiving the national average Social Security benefit in 2000 - 6 per month - would have ,193.10 per month by 201However, because retiree costs are rising at a substantially faster pace than the COLA, that individual would require Social 0.30 more per month, or ,603.40 in 2018, just to maintain his or her 2000 level of buying power..In 2016 the COLA was zero and Part B premiums rose by 16.1 percent. In 2017 the COLA was just 0.3 percentage point, and Part B premiums rose by 10 percent. "Those premium spikes were due in large part to the cost-shifting effect created when no COLA was payable," Johnson notes..If the Supreme Court rules against the federal government, that could have a devastating impact on the new program. The case centers on whether people who enrolled through the federal exchange can legally receive subsidies to lower their monthly premiums. … Continued