Here are a few select provisions from the bill relating specifically to aging and aging services.
Section 610 provides additional funding for fiscal year 2013 as follows (all are one year funding):
Area Agencies on Aging $7,500,000
ADRCs $5,000,000
SHIP programs $7,500,000
National Center for benefits and outreach enrollment $5,000,000
Section 642 repeals the CLASS Act.
Section 643 creates a Commission on Long Term Care to:
“develop a plan for the establishment, implementation, and financing of a comprehensive, coordinated, and high-quality system that ensures the availability of long-term services and supports for individuals in need of such services and supports, including elderly individuals, individuals with substantial cognitive or functional limitations, other individuals who require assistance to perform activities of daily living, and individuals desiring to plan for future long-term care needs.
To read the full article click here:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/01/01/american.taxpayer.relief.act.pdf
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
The Fiscal Cliff Legislation and its Impact on Seniors
The following is a a summary of fiscal cliff legislation impacting seniors.
The “Fiscal Cliff” Legislation
By: Brian Lindberg and Sadia Sorathia
The Senate passed a compromise bill, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, to avert the fiscal cliff at about 2 a.m. January 1, 2013, by an overwhelming 89-8 vote. The deal was brokered by Vice President Biden and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. After speculation throughout New Year’s Day on whether Speaker Boehner would bring the bill to a vote or if House Republicans would pass the bill with amendments that would likely be unpalatable to the Senate, the House eventually supported the bill with a 257-167 vote at 10:45 p.m. President Obama signed the bill on January 2, 2013.
Key Features of the Act
The bill addresses many of the outstanding fiscal cliff concerns, including the Bush era tax rates, estate and gift tax rates, Medicare reimbursement, and the sequester, among numerous other issues.
Tax rate changes. The bill will permanently extend current tax rates for individuals earning less than $400,000 and couples earning less than $450,000. Tax rates will revert to the Clinton-era rate of 39.6% (up from 35%) for those making more than $400,000. The higher rate will only be applied on the income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for families. Wealthy taxpayers will experience an increase in the tax rate from 15% to 20% on capital gains and dividends. Married couples earning more than $300,000 and individuals earning at least $250,000 will face a phase-out of the personal exemption.
Estate tax. The estate tax exemption will remain the same as 2012 at $5.12 million per person (and will be indexed for inflation). Effective January 1, 2013, the top estate tax rate will increase from 35% to 40%. These rates and exemption levels are permanently extended. Portability is also extended and the gift tax exemption will remain at $5 million as well.
Payroll tax. The payroll tax holiday will not be extended for another year. Since 2011, the payroll tax rate, which funds Social Security, was 4.2%. The payroll tax rate will now revert to the pre-2011 level of 6.2%.
“Doc fix.” There is a one-year “doc fix” included in the bill. This “doc fix” prevents the scheduled 27% reimbursement cuts to Medicare physicians. The “doc fix” will not be paid through cuts to the Affordable Care Act or by beneficiaries.
Older American funding. The fiscal cliff deal also provided older Americans added security by increasing funding for important Older Americans Act and other aging programs. For FY 2013, Area Agencies on Aging received $7.5 million in additional funds and Aging and Disability Resource Centers received an additional $5 million. The National Center for Benefits and Outreach Enrollment will also see a $5 million increase in funding for FY 2013. Medicare State Health Insurance Programs will receive $7.5 million in additional funding for FY 2013.
Sequestration. The bill addressed sequestration and delayed the automatic spending cuts by two months until March 1, 2013. The cost of continuing current spending levels will be paid equally through tax revenue increases and later spending cuts. The bill reduces the total amount of the sequester by $24 billion from $1.2 trillion to $1.176 trillion. If the sequester takes effect in FY 2013, total cuts will equal $85.33 billon next year instead of $109 billion due to the $24 billion reduction. Half of the $85.33 billion ($42.67 billion) in cuts would come from defense spending and the other half would come from nondefense spending.
CLASS Act repeal. Also included in the bill are the repeal of the CLASS Act and the establishment of a Commission on Long-Term Care. It is reported that President Obama agreed to repeal the CLASS program in exchange for Republicans agreeing to raise the tax rates on the wealthiest Americans. Many believe that CLASS would not have been implemented until a large Democratic majority in both chambers of the Congress could modify its structure and funding formula.
Commission on Long-Term Care. The Commission on Long-Term Care will “develop a plan for the establishment, implementation, and financing of a comprehensive, coordinated, and high-quality system that ensures the availability of long-term services and supports.” The commission will investigate the interaction between Medicare, Medicaid, and private long-term care insurance. The commission should account for demographic changes and trends in order to improve the delivery system for long-term services and supports. The commission will consist of 15 members with the President, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the House, and House Minority Leader each appointing 3 members. Members will represent the interests of consumers, older adults, family caregivers, health care workers, private long-term care insurers, State insurance departments, and state Medicaid agencies.
Additional items. Additionally included in the bill are various tax extensions, including the deduction of state and local general sales taxes, the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition, the research credit, and the credit for energy-efficient appliances. The federal unemployment benefits would be extended for a year without a budget offset elsewhere. The extended benefit provisions and the funding for reemployment services and reemployment and eligibility assessment activities are extended as well. The bill also extends Medicare programs of importance to older Americans, including the payment for outpatient therapy services and specialized Medicare Advantage plans for special needs individuals. The bill also extends the qualifying individual (QI) program. The bill included a one year extension of agricultural programs and a provision that would prevent members of Congress from receiving a cost of living adjustment.
Future Challenges
Although this bill addresses important issues such as the Bush-era tax cut expiration, it fails to provide a permanent solution to the sequester and does not resolve the debt limit debate. The United States reached the debt ceiling, or the legal borrowing limit, on Monday, December 31. The debt issuance suspension period will last through February 28, 2013. Congress will quickly be faced with the challenge of raising the debt ceiling. Almost immediately after the debt ceiling debate, Congress will have to address a more permanent answer to sequestration and will also be faced with funding the federal government after the Continuing Resolution expires on March 27, 2013.
Deficit reduction will remain a constant issue well into the 113th Congress. Congress will likely engage in tax system reform conversations, including non-retirement accounts, exemptions, tax code “loopholes” and charitable tax deductions. Entitlement reform will also be a major challenge for the 113th Congress with the Medicaid and Medicare programs facing increased scrutiny due to the mounting pressure to decrease the federal deficit and curb spending. Many of the same proposals that were a part of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Simpson/Bowles), Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, and other deficit reduction proposals will be a part of the discussion again this year.
As events develop in 2013, NAELA will continue to play an active role on those issues important to our members and their clients and provide regular updates to all members on Capitol Hill activities.
January 3, 2013
By: Brian Lindberg and Sadia Sorathia
The Senate passed a compromise bill, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, to avert the fiscal cliff at about 2 a.m. January 1, 2013, by an overwhelming 89-8 vote. The deal was brokered by Vice President Biden and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. After speculation throughout New Year’s Day on whether Speaker Boehner would bring the bill to a vote or if House Republicans would pass the bill with amendments that would likely be unpalatable to the Senate, the House eventually supported the bill with a 257-167 vote at 10:45 p.m. President Obama signed the bill on January 2, 2013.
Key Features of the Act
The bill addresses many of the outstanding fiscal cliff concerns, including the Bush era tax rates, estate and gift tax rates, Medicare reimbursement, and the sequester, among numerous other issues.
Tax rate changes. The bill will permanently extend current tax rates for individuals earning less than $400,000 and couples earning less than $450,000. Tax rates will revert to the Clinton-era rate of 39.6% (up from 35%) for those making more than $400,000. The higher rate will only be applied on the income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for families. Wealthy taxpayers will experience an increase in the tax rate from 15% to 20% on capital gains and dividends. Married couples earning more than $300,000 and individuals earning at least $250,000 will face a phase-out of the personal exemption.
Estate tax. The estate tax exemption will remain the same as 2012 at $5.12 million per person (and will be indexed for inflation). Effective January 1, 2013, the top estate tax rate will increase from 35% to 40%. These rates and exemption levels are permanently extended. Portability is also extended and the gift tax exemption will remain at $5 million as well.
Payroll tax. The payroll tax holiday will not be extended for another year. Since 2011, the payroll tax rate, which funds Social Security, was 4.2%. The payroll tax rate will now revert to the pre-2011 level of 6.2%.
“Doc fix.” There is a one-year “doc fix” included in the bill. This “doc fix” prevents the scheduled 27% reimbursement cuts to Medicare physicians. The “doc fix” will not be paid through cuts to the Affordable Care Act or by beneficiaries.
Older American funding. The fiscal cliff deal also provided older Americans added security by increasing funding for important Older Americans Act and other aging programs. For FY 2013, Area Agencies on Aging received $7.5 million in additional funds and Aging and Disability Resource Centers received an additional $5 million. The National Center for Benefits and Outreach Enrollment will also see a $5 million increase in funding for FY 2013. Medicare State Health Insurance Programs will receive $7.5 million in additional funding for FY 2013.
Sequestration. The bill addressed sequestration and delayed the automatic spending cuts by two months until March 1, 2013. The cost of continuing current spending levels will be paid equally through tax revenue increases and later spending cuts. The bill reduces the total amount of the sequester by $24 billion from $1.2 trillion to $1.176 trillion. If the sequester takes effect in FY 2013, total cuts will equal $85.33 billon next year instead of $109 billion due to the $24 billion reduction. Half of the $85.33 billion ($42.67 billion) in cuts would come from defense spending and the other half would come from nondefense spending.
CLASS Act repeal. Also included in the bill are the repeal of the CLASS Act and the establishment of a Commission on Long-Term Care. It is reported that President Obama agreed to repeal the CLASS program in exchange for Republicans agreeing to raise the tax rates on the wealthiest Americans. Many believe that CLASS would not have been implemented until a large Democratic majority in both chambers of the Congress could modify its structure and funding formula.
Commission on Long-Term Care. The Commission on Long-Term Care will “develop a plan for the establishment, implementation, and financing of a comprehensive, coordinated, and high-quality system that ensures the availability of long-term services and supports.” The commission will investigate the interaction between Medicare, Medicaid, and private long-term care insurance. The commission should account for demographic changes and trends in order to improve the delivery system for long-term services and supports. The commission will consist of 15 members with the President, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the House, and House Minority Leader each appointing 3 members. Members will represent the interests of consumers, older adults, family caregivers, health care workers, private long-term care insurers, State insurance departments, and state Medicaid agencies.
Additional items. Additionally included in the bill are various tax extensions, including the deduction of state and local general sales taxes, the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition, the research credit, and the credit for energy-efficient appliances. The federal unemployment benefits would be extended for a year without a budget offset elsewhere. The extended benefit provisions and the funding for reemployment services and reemployment and eligibility assessment activities are extended as well. The bill also extends Medicare programs of importance to older Americans, including the payment for outpatient therapy services and specialized Medicare Advantage plans for special needs individuals. The bill also extends the qualifying individual (QI) program. The bill included a one year extension of agricultural programs and a provision that would prevent members of Congress from receiving a cost of living adjustment.
Future Challenges
Although this bill addresses important issues such as the Bush-era tax cut expiration, it fails to provide a permanent solution to the sequester and does not resolve the debt limit debate. The United States reached the debt ceiling, or the legal borrowing limit, on Monday, December 31. The debt issuance suspension period will last through February 28, 2013. Congress will quickly be faced with the challenge of raising the debt ceiling. Almost immediately after the debt ceiling debate, Congress will have to address a more permanent answer to sequestration and will also be faced with funding the federal government after the Continuing Resolution expires on March 27, 2013.
Deficit reduction will remain a constant issue well into the 113th Congress. Congress will likely engage in tax system reform conversations, including non-retirement accounts, exemptions, tax code “loopholes” and charitable tax deductions. Entitlement reform will also be a major challenge for the 113th Congress with the Medicaid and Medicare programs facing increased scrutiny due to the mounting pressure to decrease the federal deficit and curb spending. Many of the same proposals that were a part of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Simpson/Bowles), Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, and other deficit reduction proposals will be a part of the discussion again this year.
As events develop in 2013, NAELA will continue to play an active role on those issues important to our members and their clients and provide regular updates to all members on Capitol Hill activities.
January 3, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
FCA releases two new reports on important role of family caregivers in reducing negative outcomes for patients
Increased training, support, and recognition are needed by families as healthcare increasingly moves into home settings
SAN FRANCISCO-December 17,
2012-The National Center on Caregiving
at Family Caregiver Alliance has released two new reports that shine a
light on the important roles of family caregivers in U.S. healthcare and how
those caregivers are often unrecognized and unsupported within medical and
long-term service systems.
Family Caregiving and Transitional Care: A Critical
Review is an examination of the
often ignored--yet absolutely essential--role of caregiving families as
patients transition from one healthcare setting to another, for example
discharge from hospital to home or hospital to rehab facility.
The report notes that
although family caregivers are usually the individuals who will actually
implement care plans following release from the hospital, they are rarely
actively included in discharge planning; worse, their training, even for simple
medical procedures, is often insufficient. The all-too-common result:
preventable negative outcomes for patients.
The report looks at ways
family caregivers characterize their experiences when a transition occurs, and
they are expected to take on challenging care tasks such as direct medical
treatments (e.g., monitoring ventilators or home dialysis), managing
medications, and coordinating essential medical services. Transition decisions
made hurriedly at the point of discharge can change patient outcomes and can be
implicated in costly hospital readmissions, serious medication errors, and
omissions in follow-up treatment.
The authors state, "As
the US continues its pressing search for ways to contain healthcare costs and
improve quality, the one group whose role has been largely ignored is the
nation's 41 million family caregivers.... Family caregivers are a critical
missing link in improving transitional care for frail older adults with
disabilities."
The report also examines the
relatively few model transitional care programs that do support family
caregivers and concludes with recommendations on improvements needed for
practice, research, and public policy.
Authors: Mary Jo Gibson, MA,
whose career spans 30 years of work on family caregiving, health and long-term
services and supports (LTSS) policy; Kathleen Kelly, MPA, Executive Director of
Family Caregiver Alliance, the National Center on Caregiving and the Bay Area Caregiver
Resource Center; and Alan K. Kaplan, MSc, JD, who has more than 30 years of
experience on patients' rights, medical peer review and Medicare quality
assurance issues.
The report is available at: http://caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content/pdfs/FamCGing_TransCare_CritRvw_FINAL10.31.2012.pdf
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
New Policy Eliminates Paperwork, Allows More VA Staff to Focus on Eliminating Claims Backlog
New Policy Eliminates Paperwork, Allows More VA Staff to Focus on Eliminating Claims Backlog
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it is cutting red tape for Veterans by eliminating the need for them to complete an annual Eligibility Verification Report (EVR). VA will implement a new process for confirming eligibility for benefits, and staff that had been responsible for processing the old form will instead focus on eliminating the compensation claims backlog.
Historically, beneficiaries have been required to complete an EVR each year to ensure their pension benefits continued. Under the new initiative, VA will work with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to verify continued eligibility for pension benefits.
"By working together, we have cut red tape for Veterans and will help ensure these brave men and women get the benefits they have earned and deserve," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
VA estimates it would have sent nearly 150,000 EVRs to beneficiaries in January 2013. Eliminating these annual reports reduces the burden on Veterans, their families, and survivors because they will not have to return these routine reports to VA each year in order to avoid suspension of benefits. It also allows VA to redirect more than 100 employees that usually process EVRs to work on eliminating the claims backlog.
"Having already instituted an expedited process that enables wounded warriors to quickly access Social Security disability benefits, we are proud to work with our federal partners on an automated process that will make it much easier for qualified Veterans to maintain their VA benefits from year to year," said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security.
"The IRS is taking new steps to provide critical data to help speed the benefits process for the nation's Veterans and Veterans Affairs," said Beth Tucker, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support. "The IRS is pleased to be part of a partnership with VA and SSA that will provide needed data quickly and effectively to move this effort forward."
All beneficiaries currently receiving VA pension benefits will receive a letter from VA explaining these changes and providing instructions on how to continue to submit their unreimbursed medical expenses.
More information about VA pension benefits is available at
http://www.benefits.va.gov/pension and other VA benefit programs on the joint Department of Defense—VA web portal eBenefits at www.ebenefits.va.gov.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Increase in SSI Benefits
Americans with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits, specifically Supplemental Security Income, will see an increase in their monthly benefits in 2013.
On Tuesday, the Social Security Administration stated that all beneficiaries will get a 1.7% increase to compensate for a higher cost-of-living. The automatic payment adjustment, also know as COLA, occurs whenever inflation rises.
This increase will go into effect on 12/31/12 for over 8 million SSI recipients.
The maximum federal benefit for an individual receiving SSI will increase from $698 per month to $710. Also, payments to couples on SSI will increase to $1066 from $1048 monthly.
Source: disabilityscoop.com
On Tuesday, the Social Security Administration stated that all beneficiaries will get a 1.7% increase to compensate for a higher cost-of-living. The automatic payment adjustment, also know as COLA, occurs whenever inflation rises.
This increase will go into effect on 12/31/12 for over 8 million SSI recipients.
The maximum federal benefit for an individual receiving SSI will increase from $698 per month to $710. Also, payments to couples on SSI will increase to $1066 from $1048 monthly.
Source: disabilityscoop.com
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Medicare Part D Open Enrollment
Medicare Part D Open Enrollment is from October 15th to December 7th
What does this mean?
· Anyone enrolled in a prescription drug plan can switch to another plan for the following year
· Those who missed the original deadline for Part D can join the program
· Your medication needs may have changed in the last year – a different plan may provide better coverage
· Many plans change their coverage and cost from one year to another
How do I get help evaluating my options?
· Did you know… Your local Walgreens pharmacist can provide No Cost face to face consultation to evaluate all your plan options. Families can call to set up an appointment or just stop in to request help anytime. Walgreens creates a personalized report showing the cost and coverage of each plan
· Families can also call Medicare: (800) 633-4227
Thursday, November 1, 2012
State of Kansas and Missouri Board on Aging and Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
Did you know the word Ombudsman is Scandinavian? In the US, the word has come to mean an advocate or helper. An Ombudsman protects and promotes the rights of long-term care consumers, working with residents and families to achieve quality care and quality of life. The program is required by both federal and state law.If families have questions or concerns about resident rights, they can call
(877) 662-8362 Kansas
(800) 309-3282 Missouri
State of Kansas and Missouri Board on Aging and Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
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