By Alex Moore This January, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it has recovered $31 million in federal payments that improperly went to dead people in a five-month pilot project. The Treasury Department undertook this effort after Congress granted it temporary access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) Full Death Master File, which is the most ...

By Susan Stewart, Licensed Insurance Agent I lived in England for 10 years, worked, got a driver’s license, joined a book club, and needed medical care. There, virtually all costs that we’d associate with health insurance here in the states are covered through the National Health Service (NHS), a government agency. The NHS is funded primarily ...

By Daisy Brown, Legislative Liaison, TSCL In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the next 15 drugs whose prices it will negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies, using powers granted by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Weight-loss drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy made the list, potentially spelling a turning point for seniors’ ...

By Edward Cates, Chairman, TSCL The new Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, has spent a lot of time in the headlines over the last few months. Headed by Elon Musk, the agency was established by the Trump administration through executive order to modernize federal software while maximizing governmental efficiency and productivity. In its first ...

By Susan Stewart, Licensed Insurance Agent I lived in England for 10 years, worked, got a driver’s license, joined a book club, and needed medical care. Here are facts and observations written from the point of observation rather than deep investigative reporting. In the U.K., prescriptions currently cost £9.90 each. That is about $12. In 2012, they were ...

By Daisy Brown, Legislative Liaison, TSCL The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law by former President Biden in January, will raise benefits for 3.2 million Americans who receive pensions for work that Social Security doesn’t cover. This means that many public workers—such as firefighters, teachers, and police officers—will no longer have their retirement benefits penalized ...

By Alex Moore Dementia affected more than 6.7 million Americans in 2023, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with 14 million projected cases by 2060. The disease is brutal, not just for patients, but their families as well. It’s a major reason why 53 million Americans, according to an estimate from AARP ...

By Alex Moore Medicare just punished drug companies for increasing the price of medicine faster than inflation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) identified 64 drugs whose prices outpaced inflation in December and lowered their Part B coinsurance from January through the end of this month. The agency estimates that seniors will save up ...

By Edward Cates, Chair, TSCL President Trump laid out a major new policy proposal in December on his social media platform, Truth Social. “SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!” he wrote, suggesting that he would like to eliminate the rules that require seniors to pay taxes on up to 85 percent of their benefits, ...

By Alex Moore In November, former President Biden proposed expanding anti-obesity drugs, like Wegovy, for people with Medicare and Medicaid coverage. These drugs are currently only covered for people who use them to treat other conditions, like diabetes and heart disease. However, the change faces a threat from the incoming administration. The new administration’s pick to lead ...