Newsroom Helen Strike Named President Of Regina Hospital And River Falls Area HospitalAn immunologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota said recently, "It's fine for politicians to say we're going to have a vaccine next month, but the literature is littered with false starts and unanticipated safety effects in vaccines.".The plans also reduce spending on premiums, because they eliminate the need for supplemental insurance. While the majority of Medicare beneficiaries still receive their Medicare benefits through traditional Medicare, many also purchase a Medicare supplement or "Medigap" policy to cover the considerable amount of out-of-pocket spending that Medicare alone does not cover, and a free-standing Part D drug plan..Last week Politico.com reported that major legislation meant to lower prescription drug prices has run into unexpected trouble in the House of Representatives. … Continued
Racial Equity And Health Policy Event Todays Topics In Health Disparities What MightIn addition to rapidly growing Medigap premiums, retirees also must pay for premiums for Medicare Part B and their drug plans. The combination takes a bigger bite out of Social Security benefits and other retirement resources when COLAs fail to keep pace. "The financial drain on benefits is difficult to anticipate, and many retirees don't have adequate savings to begin with," Johnson says..That doesn't mean that a budget agreement is completely out of the question or the much more unlikely scenario that Congress won't get paid. The No Budget No Pay Act holds Congressional paychecks in escrow, and, by law, will release the funds either when a budget agreement is reached, or on the last day of the 113th Congress, which ends on December 31, 2014..A new analysis by Johnson compared the growth of average benefits since 2009 with what retirees would have received assuming Social Security law provided a COLA guarantee of at least 3 percent, as has been proposed by some Members of Congress, including Representative Eliot Engel. Johnson's analysis found that an average benefit of ,075 in 2009 would be 6.50 per month higher in 2018 - about 17 percent higher - had Social Security recipients been protected by a 3 percent COLA guarantee. Over the past nine years, the average retiree would have received about ,947 more in total Social Security income. … Continued