Build Back Better Bill Dead? What is Lost?

January 19, 2022

Sen Manchin Probably Killed the BBB Bill-

As the Voting Rights Bill is probably going to be killed by Senator Sinema & Manchin, Machin is also responsible for the probable death of the Build Back Better Bill.

IN December Senator Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and the crucial holdout vote on Build Back Better Bill announced, “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation… I’ve tried everything humanly possible; I can’t get there.” Whether this is a death knell for the president’s legislative agenda or just a serious setback is still to be litigated.

President Biden had been in negotiations with Manchin, who has withheld his support for the bill, making him a key vote in the evenly divided chamber. Biden said Manchin has reiterated his support for the overall cost of the bill. He said negotiations are continuing but more time is needed.

Though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to bring the Build Back Better bill up for this month, it is all but doomed. Even so, Democrats hope to revive it in some form that could win support from every member of their Senate caucus.

What Do Seniors Lose

**A senior suffering from deafness without hearing aide**

Hearing Aids for Seniors Gone

Medicare currently does not cover hearing, dental, or vision as it once did but the Build Back Better plan addresses costs for hearing. Changes would not begin until 2023, but it would allow for coverage of hearing aids — an expense that can range drastically, from $1,000 to a few thousand dollars.

Negotiating Drug Prices Gone

**Prescription Drug Prices Not Negotiated By US**

The Build Back Better Bill would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for medications available at a pharmacy or doctor’s office. The current process for determining drug prices varies for the type of medication and how long they have been on the market. This bill offers a few changes, such as imposing a penalty fee for drug companies that raise their prices faster than inflation and laying out the framework for price negotiations.

Lost -Changes in Home- and Community-Based Care.

The spending bill earmarked $150 billion for in-home and community services through Medicaid over the next decade. The BBB bill contains additional funding for a Medicaid program that provides home- and community-based care services for eligible elderly Americans and people with disabilities. According to Kaiser Family Foundation estimates, there are more than 800,000 people on Medicaid waiting lists for these services across the country.

Americans don’t always consider home and community-based care or long-term care when making their retirement plans, but they should. Already, a 65-year-old couple retiring could expect to pay $300,000 in retirement for healthcare alone, but that doesn’t include the cost of a homecare aide or nursing home which could amount to thousands of more dollars every month.

If Aging is Your Field Call Your Representative Now

To find your local representative and tell them to support Biden’s bill if you care about aging or caregivers or women or shoring up the frayed- fraught care infrastructure. I have done a series of blogs on the bill. Check them out now

Biden’s Care Infrastructure Passed House -Wins & Losses 4 Seniors???

November 23, 2021

Biden’s Care Infrastructure Passed The House

Biden’s 1 Trillion $ Care Infrastructure Passed the House through the brilliant work of speaker Nancy Pelosi which was a great boost for deadly climate change, Child Tax Credits,paid parental leave and so much more. For seniors, the good news is it covers

New hearing benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, including coverage for a new hearing aid every five years.
A $35-per-month limit on the cost of insulin under Medicare and a cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000

$1.2 billion in new spending for critical

programs and services under the Older Americans Act (OAA).
Dental & Vision Coverages Dropped But Sanders Tries to Save

The Care Infrastructure Bill passed but it dropped expanding dental and vision benefits after centrists called for paring down the overall cost of the package, which originally was proposed for $3.5 trillion.

The framework of the Care Infrastructure Bill also doesn’t include legislation to give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices, but senators say that it would eliminate a rule that gets rid of the safe harbor for Part D drug rebates.

Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to work vision and dental back into the Care Infrastructure bill and is outraged that both were dropped. 2-5 voters want dental and vision back in the bill
- Across political parties,
- Across political parties, voters’ top priority for the bill is adding dental and vision benefits to Medicare, which was cut from the White House’s latest framework after intense pushback from dental groups and amid concerns about the price tag. Still, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) indicated he is trying to work Medicare coverage for dental and vision services back into the final bill
- If You Are In Aging Call Your Congressman
Care Infrastructure Bill may not pass it’s next big hurdle , the Senate if folks in health care and older constituents do not contact their congressman or woman and tell them to support this bill. Your Congresswoman or man controls the votes for the bill and you have to let them know you will only vote for them if they do. Common Cause has this easy way to find and contact your congressman If you believe in Medicare and senior’s right to to not have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- so please email, pick up the phone now.

Social Security Gives Benefits Boost 2022 But Free Dental, Vision, Hearing Frozen

October 18, 2021

Seniors will get More Social Security 2022 -Will They Get Heath Security from Care Infrastructure while President Biden’s mission is to create senior health equity . Medicare Covering dental, vision, and hearing is now frozen and is in real danger.

Almost 50% of Seniors have just Social Security as a Safety net. They live on social

security alone with no fallback.

Only a small percentage of older Americans, 6.8 percent, receive combined income from Social Security, PLUS a defined benefit pension, and defined contribution plan. A plurality of older Americans only receives income from Social Security in retirement.

Biden’s Care Infrastruce Bill Would Help Seniors in Jeopardy Who ONLY have Social Security Benefits

President Biden’s Care Infrastructure Bill would help seniors who only have Social Security by having Medicare cover Dental, Vision, Hearing Free is in jeopardy.

This bill would give a giant boost to seniors with only social security and help mend their financial safety net by making, dental, vision, and hearing free under Medicare.

However, President Biden’s bill is frozen. Senators Sinema and Manchin are holding up the bill by demanding it come down from 3.5 billion to maybe 2 billion or less, which means these new Medicare benefits are on the chopping block.

So, Biden also warned liberal Democrats that a proposed $3.5 trillion price tag would probably need to drop in order to accommodate centrist holdouts, and he tossed out a range of figures around $2 trillion as a possible alternative.

Income Boost to Vulnerable Seniors would be Vast if Care infrastructure Bill Passed

Hearing aid prices are unaffordably high for the elder with only social security as a money blanket. They can range from just shy of $1,000 on up to more than $6,000 for each device, depending on the level of technology.

The average Medicare beneficiary spends an average of $922 on out-of-pocket dental costs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.As many as 37 million people on Medicare don’t have dental coverage at all. Cleanings, fillings, crowns, dentures and, bridges- needed for aging teeth-aren’t covered by the program. Vision care averages about $475 a year for seniors but no coverage by Medicare. If you are living on $1500-$2000 a month these health care costs do not turn out to be affordable when food and rent come first.

20.2 million Medicare beneficiaries reported difficult times said there was a time in last year When they could not Afford Glasses, Hearing Aides or Dental Care

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported t hey could not get vision care, and among the 25.9 million beneficiaries who reported difficulty hearing, 7% (1.8 million beneficiaries) said there was a time in the last year they could not get hearing care.

If You Are a Woman or Work In Aging Call Your Congressman

Care Infrastructure may be dead if folks in health care and older constituents do not contact their congressman and tell them to support this bill. They control the votes for the bill and you have to let them know you will only vote for them if they do. Common Cause has this easy way to find and contact your congressman If you believe in Medicare and senior’s right to not have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- please do it now

Sign up for my new free Webinar How to Sign Up Concierge Clients When Adult Child Calls in Pain

Biden Care Infastructure Bill Includes M edicare Dental, Vision & Hearing

July 18, 2021

Who Knows Care Infrastructure Is Important?

I believe my readers, being geriatric care manager nurses, social workers, know why the caregiver infrastructure is important. But the republican Senate and House do not>

Care Fuels’ Our Economy

Despite overwhelming evidence that care fuels our economy and that American families desperately need this help, care has somehow been tagged as “social” or “human” infrastructure and been omitted from the bipartisan infrastructure agreement.

Medicare To Cover Dental, Hearing Vision in Care Economy

But a new bill Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Tuesday the Budget Committee’s $3.5 trillion plan would include a historic expansion of Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision care for the first time.

Although there’s no certainty that everything in the budget blueprint will make it through the full congressional process , Medicare advocates are hopeful that coverage of the extra benefits will come to fruition.

They’d also like to make permanent expanded marketplace subsidies and find a way to get Medicaid to low-income people in a handful of GOP-led states that still refuse to expand the program.

Some of this could be paid for by including a provision allowing the federal government to directly negotiate lower prices for drugs in the Medicare program — a provision that would actually save the government $345 billion, according to the CBO.

Is That Infrastructure Says the Republicans?

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union”

“One of the areas that I am working on right now is the need to expand Medicare in order to provide dental care and hearing aids and eyeglasses for millions and millions of seniors who need these services but can’t afford it.”

“Is that infrastructure? I think it is,” he added.

“Look, Jake, the truth is, in so many ways, we are behind many other countries throughout the world in providing for working families and the elderly and the children. And I think now is the time to begin addressing our physical infrastructure and our human infrastructure. I want to see that happen as soon as possible.”

Call Write Go To Meet Your Congressman

Care may wait a long time if folks in health care and older constituents do not contact their congressman and tell them to support this bill. They control the votes for the bill and you have to let them know you will only vote for them if they do. Common Cause has this easy way to find and contact your congressman If you believe in Medicare and senior’s right to to not have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- do it now

If You Are In Aging Call Your Congressman

Social Security Benefits Increase in 2022

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