Have you looked at your Medicare Part D and Advantage plans to ensure they still work for you? Each year, both Medicare Advantage and Part D plans make changes to their benefits, cost-sharing, provider networks and monthly premiums. That means the plan that best served you in 2020 may not be the best plan for you next year.

We certainly understand why so many beneficiaries choose inertia rather than the tedious and often challenging task of comparing the various private insurance plans offered in Medicare Advantage and Part D. However, given that out-of-pocket health care costs consume 24% of the average Social Security check, it's especially important that beneficiaries take the time to ensure last year's plans still meet their needs. And to help you or a loved one navigate through the sometimes complex Medicare program, you can find unbiased help from trained and knowledgeable counselors through your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).

The National Committee endorses the "Social Security Expansion Act" (S. 478 / H.R. 1170), by Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04), which would: 1) boost Social Security benefits by about $108 a month for most beneficiaries; 2) adopt a more accurate and fair Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) calculation, through the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) and 3) increase the minimum benefit so that it equals up to 125% of the poverty level for an individual.

This important bill would also strengthen Social Security's financial foundation by raising the cap on Social Security payroll taxes — and make the very wealthy pay their fair share into this program. In addition, this bill would open up a second revenue stream to safeguard Social Security's future by subjecting unearned household income above $250,000 ($200,000 for single individuals) to a tax of 6.2%. The National Committee is working with our allies in Congress and grassroots supporters like you across the country to get this important bill passed.

Whether you're currently retired or approaching retirement, the National Committee's "Ask Us" section can help answer your questions about Social Security. You can either search our archives for valuable advice on a broad range of concerns at www.ncpssm.org/ask-us-recent/ or email your question to [email protected].

This week's question is: I turned 65 and my Social Security check was reduced $105 for Medicare coverage. Will my next COLA increase be based on the amount of money I was receiving prior to the Medicare reduction or the amount after the reduction?

Click here to read the answer.

During Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing, she couldn’t answer a question about whether Social Security and Medicare are constitutional. So we want to know:

Given that newly-sworn in Justice Amy Coney Barrett would not say whether she believed Social Security and Medicare are constitutional — even though these programs were established by law 85 and 55 years ago, respectively — are you concerned about the future of these programs if a case challenging their legality is brought before the U.S. Supreme Court?

Take our poll now!

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death heightened the stakes in a case scheduled to appear before the court Nov. 10 that could reverse improvements to Medicare and raise out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. (November 4, 2020, Kiplingers, Catherine Siskos)

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Retirees, you might have missed it amid all the chaos we are enduring - but this is the time of year to re-evaluate your Medicare coverage. And what you may not know is this: you really need to do a checkup to make sure you have the best-fit coverage at the best price. (November 5, 2020, Reuters, Mark Miller)

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Over the summer, the Food and Drug Administration announced that in order for an experimental Covid-19 vaccine to get the green light, it would need to be safe and “prevent disease or decrease its severity in at least 50 percent of people who are vaccinated.” (November 3, 2020, NBC News, Jacqueline Stenson)

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Paula Brynen has been finding a sense of purpose in volunteer work for years — and even more so after her job as a fund-raiser for public television in California was eliminated two years ago. Having survived leukemia in 2011, she volunteers with the local chapter of the nonprofit Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, work that has been especially important to her. (November 3, 2020, Kaiser Health News, Judith Graham)

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On Monday morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention edited its Web page describing how the novel coronavirus spreads, removing recently added language saying it was “possible” that it spreads via airborne transmission. It was the third major revision to CDC information or guidelines published since May. (October 28, 2020, The New York Times, Mark Miller)

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