Cola Changes in 2023What is COLA and why is it important? The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, is a social security benefit that fluctuates with inflation. It ensures that retirees can live comfortably instead of living paycheck to paycheck. The big changes in 2023. A visit to the grocery store in the last 6 months will reveal a large increase in the cost of basic groceries like bread, milk, rice, and butter. With a 6.3% inflation rate in 2022, that is the highest it has ever been in over a century. Due to this, COLA benefits are the highest they've ever been, increasing by 8.7%. To read more about COLA changes in 2023 you can read about here: If you are interested in learning more about your social security benefits, you can also contact us!
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Why Citizens Insurance Solutions believes in PickleballPickleball is a sport that is gaining popularity every day. The sport has many health benefits, such as improved cholesterol, blood pressure, and cardiovascular health. Being fit is one of the keys to living a long life, which is why Citizens Insurance Solutions sponsors this sport in their local community. In addition to providing health benefits, pickleball brings people together in our community and fosters a sense of community. It offers mental and physical benefits to individuals. To learn about Pickleplex construction Listen to Heather's radio show covering this topic here. See the powerpoint presentation for her 2023 Medicare changes seminar at the Public library. 2023 Changes in Medicare2023 Changes in Medicare are out and there are plenty. Here is that you need to know:
Medicare Part A & B changes include to the premium, deductibles, copays and how Medicare calculates and reimburses provides and private health plans. Let's take a closer look at Part A & B changes in Medicare for 2023.
Enrollment Timeline Changes People applying for Original Medicare during their initial enrollment period (7 month window - 3 months before their 65th birthday the month of and 3 months after your birth month) will be able to start coverage the month immediately following your signature date.. The general election period to enroll in Original Medicare which is January 1 through March 31 - now grants Medicare coverage start dates the month following the signature date whereas beneficiaries would have to wait until July 1 for Medicare to start. ESRD changes Medicare will now change how providers who care for dialysis patients are compensated. 36 months after a successful kidney transplant Medicare now offers coverage for anti rejection medicines . Medicare ends Medicare has required all insurance agents record telephone calls. Reminder - no one should call you on the phone to discuss your Medicare options unless you asked them to. Please do not deal with people who cannot answer your questions and are clearly reading a script. Please view all new plan options here More Preventative care changes:
The inflation reduction act continues to roll out improvements and changes to Medicare for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Listen to Citizens Insurance Solutions Owner on the Radio discuss 2023 Changes in Medicare10/7/2022 2022 Tellico Village Pickleball Championship & After PartyCome party with us and relax. Bring your own food and refreshments! Any ticket holder is welcome. You do not need to be a Tellico Village Resident or a pickleball player to attend.
Give Back DayCitizens Insurance Solutions contributed and volunteered to raise money for those who battle dementia and Alzheimer's. Citizens Insurance Solutions believes in supporting and giving back to the community by sponsoring events like Tellico Village Golf Association's annual "Give Back Day". All the money was raised for Our Place, which is to establish a scholarship to help those suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia who may not be able to participate in the day center. The fundraiser raised more than $6,156 for the center.
To read more click the link: https://www.tellicovillageconnection.com/news/article_59f5e578-1a44-11ed-a68c-cb57480b9198.html Medicare Under Joe Biden and his AdministrationWith Joe Biden soon to be inaugurated as president what can we expect in the way of changes to the Medicare program? We heard a lot of promises around health care in the Democratic primary campaign, but compared to some of his fellow Democratic nominees, Biden has always taken a more moderate position on health care, preferring to work with systems already in place rather than push for a major overhaul of the way health care is delivered and financed in this country. Biden will be working with the 117th Congress. Democrats now hold a majority in both chambers if you count vice president Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote in the Senate. However, neither chamber has a supermajority of two-thirds. This means any significant legislation will need to be bipartisan in order to pass. It will still be possible to pass certain legislation through the reconciliation process which requires a simple majority. Although such legislation has to be budget-related in order to meet requirements under the Byrd Rule, this should not be too difficult since most Medicare changes would have an impact on the federal budget. Still, Biden is not expected to try to force through any dramatic changes. Covid is his highest priority right now. To start, Biden has nominated Xavier Becerra to replace Alex Azar as Secretary of Health and Human Services. As the attorney general of California, Becerra has been at the forefront of legal efforts on health care, working to protect the Affordable Care Act and fighting for women’s health. He is seen as somewhat partisan due to his aggressive actions on the ACA and his support for Medicare for All, however he has said he will be working to administer Biden’s agenda even if different from his own. If confirmed, he will be the first Latino to lead HHS. Biden has not yet named a new administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This will be an important role in Biden’s overall plan to expand health care coverage. A number of former Obama officials are under consideration. As for Medicare, the challenge is huge: balancing retirees’ needs for continued coverage in light of rising health care costs, and the looming exhaustion of the HI (Part A) Trust Fund in 2024. Specifically, Biden has talked about two major changes: lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60, and authorizing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, the latter being a promise of President Trump which never came to fruition. Lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60? Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 would cover that crucial period of time between age 60 and 64 when many people would like to retire but are not yet eligible for Medicare. There are about 23 million people in this age range. Not all of them would enroll in Medicare, of course. The 1.7 million who have no insurance and the 3.2 million who buy insurance on the ACA exchange would be the most likely to enroll at 60 if eligible. Of the 13 million who have employer coverage, some would be expected to keep it, some would take this opportunity to retire and drop it in favor of Medicare, and some might continue with the employer coverage and add Medicare as a wrap-around policy. Bringing more people into the program would strengthen Medicare’s clout in the marketplace when it comes to negotiating prices with providers and hospitals. Bringing younger people into the program would lower the average cost per beneficiary, but it would still cost the government as much as $200 billion over the next decade depending on what other reforms are made around the ACA. Although popular among Americans, the proposal faces an uphill battle, primarily from hospitals, who would lose billions of dollars in revenue due to Medicare’s lower fee structure. Medicare reimbursement rates for patients admitted to hospitals average half what commercial or employer-sponsored insurance plans pay. The American Hospital Association is one of the biggest lobbies in Congress. Negotiate drug prices? Part of the deal President George W. Bush made with drugmakers in passing the Medicare Modernization Act was that the federal government would not negotiate drug prices. This has come back to haunt the U.S, as drug prices have escalated dramatically. Higher drug prices have not only cost the Medicare program more—about $97 billion in 2019 compared to $44 billion in 2006—they also cost Medicare beneficiaries thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket spending, especially for high-cost specialty drugs. Allowing the federal government to negotiate directly with drugmakers on price would save the program an estimated $456 billion between 2023 and 2029, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Drugmakers claim they need these revenues for research and clinical trials. Biden’s healthcare plan would also allow people to buy select prescription drugs from other countries. This would provide for a more competitive marketplace that should effectively lower prescription drug pricing. Biden’s Medicare plan would prohibit drugmakers from raising the price of their therapies at a rate faster than inflation as a condition of Medicare participation. Drug developers that raise the costs of their prescription medicines faster the annual inflation rate would face a tax penalty. While health care is a priority for President-Elect Biden, it’s understandable that non-Medicare issues, primarily the Covid vaccine rollout and the shoring up of the Affordable Care Act will come first. There’s a lot to do to ensure that all Americans have health care coverage. This will take time. Reference
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