Scrivani claimed that by using a Canadian pharmacy, his expenses were greatly reduced.
Social Security 2024 COLA Boost: The 76-year-old former staffing firm CEO Lou Scrivani’s Social Security benefits will rise next year, but the increase won’t even come close to covering his health care costs, let alone the elevated costs of everything else over the previous year.
A cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, of 3.2% will be given to over 66 million programme participants starting in January. This amount equates to more than $50 more each month on average.
The goal of COLA is to assist Americans in keeping up with inflation so they can continue to live comfortably year after year. But many seniors feel that the hikes are not long enough. The Senior Citizens League, a charity that advocates for older individuals, states that the cost of the things that older adults spend the majority of their money on regularly exceeds COLA.Health care is the largest cost.
Scrivani, a Delaware resident, stated that “we will not net enough to keep up with current inflation” even with COLA.
Scrivani calculates the following for himself and his wife:
That indicates that the Scrivanis retain roughly $53.60 of the $135 monthly COLA rise. But their medication now has a $60 higher deductible.
“There you go, $53 increase,” Scrivani said. “We’re in the negative overall with current inflation rates.”
Furthermore, only increased health care expenses are included in that scenario. The haemorrhage gets worse when you add in more expensive housing, food, gas and utilities; seniors and experts agree that older folks must hope their savings can make up the difference.
However, that isn’t always the case.
According to the most recent Census Bureau data, the percentage of Americans 65 and older who are poor has climbed for three years running, from 10.7% in 2021 to 14.1% in 2022.
“We have a problem, and a lot of people are feeling it,” stated Kris Whipple, a partner at Nashville, Tennessee-based Kristopher Curtis Financial—a financial adviser. “I therefore leap to what can be done. How can I help? Make appropriate plans.”
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Over 25% of the 1,055 adults surveyed by the Senior Citizens League in the first three months of the year reported using up all of their retirement funds in the previous year. From 20% in the second half of last year, that was an increase.
Also, according to the League, a record 45% of respondents claimed to have had credit card debt for longer than 90 days despite rising interest rates.
According to a statement released by The Senior Citizens League last month, Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, “worry that retirement income won’t be enough to cover the cost of essentials in the coming months is a top concern.”
There won’t be many cost-cutting initiatives from the Inflation Reduction Act very soon.
This year, the only changes made were the free recommended adult immunisations for Medicare Part D members and a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs.
This year, price talks with pharmaceutical companies began for ten pharmaceuticals. However, according to Scrivani, “the majority of savings, if any, will not be seen by anyone, on any drugs, until about 2026.”
Beginning on January 1, you will automatically be eligible for “catastrophic coverage,” which means that for the remainder of the calendar year, you won’t have to pay a copayment or coinsurance for prescription pharmaceuticals covered under Part D. This includes some payments made by other individuals or businesses on your behalf.
It is also anticipated that a $2,000 annual maximum on out-of-pocket prescription medication costs won’t be implemented until 2025.
Seniors order drugs from Canadian pharmacies, where they pay a fraction of the American pricing due to the high cost of drugs.
Taking Xarelto helps Scrivani avoid strokes. A thirty-day supply costs $550 with his insurance and copay. By using GoodRx, a free online pharmacy price comparison tool, he would have to pay almost $7,000 out of pocket annually, ranging from $528 to $567, depending on the pharmacy.
He conducted a thorough search for less expensive medications as a result of those costs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian government both offer advice on where to go for internet or foreign pharmacies. Some individuals also check the Canadian International Pharmacy Association’s list of approved pharmacies or the individuals’s Pharmacy for consumer drug information.
Scrivani claimed that by using a Canadian pharmacy, his expenses were greatly reduced. His medication is supplied from Turkey, and this year he will receive a three-month supply for $119, or $49 per month, instead of $550 a month from the American pharmaceutical business that holds a licence to sell the medication.
He declared, “That is the status of senior health care in this nation.”
According to Whipple, in severe situations, some people will even relocate to Texas, California, or Arizona in order to have easy access to Mexico for goods purchases.He and other financial gurus agree that it is better to focus on your financial plan early in life, even though they can understand why people might do this.
The CEO of financial management company Hill & Hill Financial, Morgan D. Hill, stated. “You should budget one-third of your income for medical expenses.”
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