Informational

Informational posts feature information and informational events that might be of interest to our membership.

Attention Knitters, Crocheters and Yarn Enthusiasts

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Avalon Park Preserve Needs You!LI-WVU-detail_sm

Last winter we called on you to help be a part of our community-focused project, Hooked@LIM: The Crocheted Tree Project.  Thanks to more than 200 volunteers, this mammoth project has expanded!
The Long Island Museum has joined forces with our neighbors, Avalon Park & Preserve to include an additional tree on the park grounds as part of the project.
Artist Carol Hummel will hold additional workshops at Avalon Park where once again, you can learn the patterns and techniques needed to create the beautiful yarn designs that will cover the Avalon tree.
Workshop #1:  Saturday, May 30, 5 – 8 p.m.
Workshop #2:  Sunday, May 31, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
If you are interested in volunteering, or if you’ve already created designs for the museum and you need a refresher course, call Avalon Park and Preserve at (631) 689-0619, or e-mail info@avaonparkandpreserve.org.
No experience is necessary and workshops are free.  Come and be a part of this exciting partnership and help bring this fabulous project to life!

Victory for Oregon Retirees

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Oregon Supreme Court overturns

PERS cuts for existing retirees

PERsOregon’s Supreme Court delivered a victory for working families when it reaffirmed that the state must fulfill its contractual pension promises, ruling on April 30 that two bills designed to cut previously agreed upon cost-of-living adjustments for retirees through the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) were unconstitutional. Everice Moro, a retired member of the Oregon School Employees Association, was the lead plaintiff in the case, Moro v. State of Oregon.
“The court has made it clear that even our governor and state legislators must honor a contract made with workers,” says Moro, who chairs OSEA’s Retired Oregon School Employees chapter.
“This is an important decision and victory for our retired members,” says Ed Edwards, OSEA’s director of government relations. (Photo credit: M.O. Stevens/Wikimedia)

Medicare “Doc Fix” Bill Passes in the Senate

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This week, the Senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula that determines Medicare physician payments and extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years. Congress has acted 17 times to temporarily prevent drastic payment cuts resulting from use of the SGR formula. The “doc fix” bill replaces the SGR with alternative, value-driven payment strategies. This is good news for people with Medicare, who need to know their doctors will be there when they need them. 

The bill also permanently funds the Qualified Individual (QI) program that helps low-income Medicare beneficiaries afford Part B premiums. While the Senate considered an amendment to the bill to permanently repeal the Medicare therapy caps, this measure was not successful. Instead, the therapy caps exceptions process will be extended for two years. When this exceptions process expires, Congress must again act to ensure that people with Medicare are able to retain access to needed therapy services.

Also extended for two years is federal funding for community-based organizations, including State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and others, to find and enroll vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries in low-income assistance programs. Like the therapy cap exceptions process, it will be paramount for Congress to ensure this funding continues beyond the two-year extension included in the final bill. 

The legislation will now go to the President, and he is expected to sign it into law. 

Click here to read the final bill.

Beware Tax Scams

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Do not fall for any of the telephone scammers pretending to be the IRS.  Hang up immediately and do not provide any asked for information if you receive a phone call pro porting to be from the IRS. The IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone, does not ask for credit card information or pre-paid debit cards, does not demand immediate payment and does not threaten police action or arrest if payment is not made immediately. If you get such a call hang up immediately and report the call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484 or at: www.tigta.gov.