In 1979, cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies. It is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. The Senate SpecialCommittee Held health and retirement strategies. Where to learn about Social Security benefits and the facing seniors in world communities. Senator collins good morning, the committee will come to order. For the next 12 years, 10,000 americans will turn 65 each day. Joinednth, i officially the club. Age, maine is ing most rapidly. They account for 94 of the 2016. Tion of the state in that is a 22 increase from the year 2010. No matter where in the country you live, when americans think of turning 65, we traditionally think of medicare and Social Security, as well be shown. Today, more than ever, there is an opportunity to plan for a brandnew chapter of life, as more americans are living longer. One out of four americans who lives to the age of 65 can expect to live in their 90s. 85 and der ishe fastestgrowing segment of our population. For many seniors, this longevity needs an additional three decades followed what was once considered the age of retirement. We need to plan to age successfully and achieve a new chapter of continued growth in our lives. Makee same time, we must those all important decisions regarding medicare and Social Security. As i know from my own visit to ma Social Security office in , where everyone was extremely helpful, there are important decisions to make, and the program can be very complex to navigate. Is best to start considering options before that 65th birthday comes around. For example, the enrollment ,indow for medicare is limited there are penalties for late enrollment. Beginsck to sign up three months before the 65th birthday and extends for three months after. Sign up late, particularly for b, can lead to a hefty penalty. It can be confusing to navigate these hurdles. As well as to choose the right package to suit individual health care needs. Those who are collecting Social Security benefits when they turn to exceed five 65 are automatically enrolled in medicare. Americans are choosing to work longer as our Senate Aging Committee shows, in their annual report that was issued last year when we chose to look at americas aging workforce. For Many Americans working longer, that means delaying Social Security and then being able to collect much higher monthly benefits later. Whiches one know decision is best . What is the ultimo ultimate time to have financial staty in the long run . When should you be considering health care and reducing costs . Those are some of the s we will be examining today. We will also explore another issue. Why we have formulas to help guide us through the best medicare and Social Security decisions, there is no simple formula for healthy aging. If we were to create a checklist for healthy aging, what would it include . Are proven choices that one can make to maximize health and wellbeing. While genetics determine about 20 of longevity, lifestyle, and environment the other 80 . Staying physically active, eating well, conversing with friends, reading and engaging with books, doing something meaningful every day, and taking proactive steps to improving wellness, all contribute to healthy aging. Physical,e know social, and cognitive engagement is good for you. Few people realize that it remains critical at every lifestage. Especially in older adulthood. Even for those who face multiple chronic conditions and frailty, proactive actions can reverse this course and lead to a healthier future. That can be difficult in states like mine which are very rura and where people may feel isolated from one another. I would like to share with you the story of sandy a healthy 80yearold woman. One winter morning she stepped outside to take her dog out, she slipped and broke her leg. Once an active woman, she found herself unable to walk. , andwing surgery, rehab physical therapy, she was able to get around with a walker but stayed home for days at a time. Dumps, herwn in the daughter convince her to try a program called a matter of balance. It is a Hospital System based in maine. This program reduces fear of falling and improves balance. The program literally changed her life. Each week, she regained strength. She traded the walker for a cane , soon after she shut the cane too. Today she is a coach for that program. She is able to walk miles on hasand feels like she her life back. Her story shows that even after a fall, we have the capacity to get back up and age well. It also shows how important those programs can be in helping a senior regain his or her life. Today more and more americans have a chance to live to 100. The fastestgrowing age group and the states, the second fastestgrowing age group is 100 and older. Turning 65 once meant it was time to retire and slow down, today it is an opportunity to prepare for a lifetime ahead. A lifetime of living, learning, and loving. A lifetime of Financial Security , if the right decisions are made. Society, what and do we need to do to get there . What choices should we make . Useful we disseminate information to the senior population . I look for to our conversations about these important issues, and i am pleased to turn to senator case for his opening statement. Y senator casey i want to thank senator collins for the good work she has done and what has been a long week. Every day, 10,000 americans turning 65 in the United States of america, 10,000 people every day. That is a Staggering Number, today we will hear that people turning 65 race their own Staggering Number of decisions at that time in their life. They must be thinking about a range of issues, claiming Social Security, a also have to think about signing up for medicare, and getting what they need to stay healthy. These are not simple decisions. There is no onesizefitsall decision. That is what i hear from my constituents, in pennsylvania specifically, we hear about it day after day. Our office wrigley works with pennsylvanians who missed their window to signed up. Whoe is a woman with cancer did not know to sign up. There are people who have made an honest mistake, who did not know they needed to sign up for medicare. It could happen to anyone of us. Now they are paying higher premiums for the rest of their life. Maintenance0 and so are paying late enrollment for Medicare Part b. Almost 700,000 americans are on the hook for that late penalty. Aat is a 30 increase in persons income. That is outrageous. It is unacceptable, considering livingtirees are already under fixed incomes. Medicare is one of our Great Success stories, it is our sacred responsibility to make sure the people can make the most of the medicare benefits that they have earned. That is why i introduced the Medicare Beneficiary enrollment. Nd eligibility at it is a good thing we have an acronym. What that act does is make sure every american receives a notice before they turn 65 that explains went to sign up for medicare, and what can happen if you delay. For is the least we can do so Many Americans. This bill would also make sure fewer people experience a gap in health coverage. This change would up the parts of medicare law that has not been revisited since the program was created more than 50 years ago. Legislation, that it is bipartisan, it represents how congress should work. Hear about what is not working and most challenginfor nstituents. We should Design Solutions to fix those problems. We should be able to pass these laws because they help the people that we serve. The people that deserve that kind of law. I look forward to todays hearing, i hope we can illuminate some of these problems. With the same problems that Susan Collins and i can work on. Thank you. Senator collins thank you very much. Turning to the after dark the comments of our witnesses, i do want to recognize and welcome member,committee senator jones from alabama. We have the opportunity to work very closely together the last releasing moreve of each other than you would probably like. You have joined this committee. I think you will find it to be a great committee. Sitting next to our most diligent member, if you follow her lead i am sure you will have a great experience. Welcome. Is thest witness today acting Deputy Commissioner for communications at the Social Security administration. He will discuss the spectrum of tools and Resources Available to rightmericans choose the retirement benefit for the individual need in the circumstances. Hear from the chief Strategy Officer and senior vice atsident of external affairs the National Council on aging. In her home state of arizona she helped launch the 2020 initiative that created the Arizona Division of adult services. Anld like to introduce adjunct clinical assistant professor of medicine at stanford university. She she is a Board Certified physician in geriatric meshes medicine. He promotes wellbeing through disease management and prevention. I will now turn to our Ranking Member to introduce our witness from pennsylvania. I want to start by congratulating ms. Hill, i am told y know have your venth grandchild. Congratulations. That is a grandson . That is good news. We need some of that around here. Of four volunteer years, she has worked weekly to and counsel pennsylvanians their families providing information to make the most of the medicare benefits. She will tell us how she came to this work and why it is so important to help people to understand medicare, she will also talk about some of the common questions she helps people with. As well as some of the missteps family make when they do not understand key information. I also want to recognize her granddaughter who is here with us. , thank you for being here with us and supporting your grandmother. You must be very proud of her, i hope you will be back here providing information before congress someday. Thank you for being here. We will nowins start with mr. Borland. Mr. Borland thank you. Members of the special committee, i am acting commissioner for communications and Social Security. Thank you for inviting me to provide information to help workers and their family members decide when to claim Social Security benefits and when to enroll in medicare these decisions are important, we are mdful of our responsibility to provide information to help our claimants make informed choices. We believe workers need to be thinking about their decisions before they arrive at the field office. Outreach ise our important. The decision workers make help jumpstart Retirement Benefits are very important as they will affect them the rest of their lives. Thethis reason, even before individual applies for Social Security benefits or enroll in medicare, we provide objective information that they may use. We do this in a variety of ways, including our website, publications, outreach, and the Social Security statement. The Social Security statement in particular shows information on lifetime earnings, as well as estimates of future benefits families may receive on those earnings. Individuals may access their statement at any time through a Social Security accounts. We also currently mail statements to individuals aged 60 and older who are not receiving Social Security and do not have a my social streak out. Millionical 2017, 15. 6 my Social Security users access their sosa security statements nearly 46 million times. We mailed around 13. 5 million statements. In addition to basic benefit Information Company statement includes information on how work affects benefits, how a workers claiming decision affects survivor benefits, how to avoid medicare late enrollment in all these, and information on average life expectancy. Another viable research is our website. Each month, nearly 15 Million People visit us online to get the information they need to make informed decisions about their benefits. The website includes a retirement estimator wch is a powerful and pular and accurate tool. Uses an individus actual earnings information from our records and allows him or her to input a few pieces of information to receive an estimate of benefits. It returns benefit estimates aged 62 at the retirement age, an age 70, or any agent between. Our retirement estimator is one of governments highest rated websites. We recognize that not everyone chooses to use the internet. Our committed employees assist the public in a variety of ways, through facetoface interaction in our field offices, by telephone, including over the national 800 number, in response to online applications, and through the mail. We also have over 100 Public Affairs specialist who, along with our field office managers, participate in more than 6000 outreach events last fiscal year with an estimated audience of more than 3. 7 Million People. These range from small rural gettogethers in public libraries, Senior Centers, churches, and veterans organizations, to large gatherings like county fairs, state fairs, senior expos, and avoid meetings. Whether the attendance is is in the tens or thousands, Social Security employees helping americans better understand their benefits. We play a key role in citing people up for medicare, although the centers for medicare and medicare services, administers the Medicare Program and Social Security is responsible for enrollment. Provide information and medicare enrollment options for those of bome eligible, whether or not they are already receiving Social Security benefits. We continue to strengthen our partnership with cms to improve communications with those nearing the medicare eligibility age of 65. We have updated the statements for older individuals to strengthen the message about when to apply for medicare and to make information more permanent. We have clarified language about late enrollment penalties in many publications to by establishing the Social Security and Medicare Programs, Congress Took action to provide seniors with benefits based on their earnings to sustain them throughout their retirement. As stewards of these programs, our job is to help workers make wellinformed decisions that are best for the individual circumstances. I thank you for the invitation to be here today and i look forward to answering any questions you may have. Sen. Collins thank you very much. Chairwoman collins and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today on behalf of the National Council on aging. I am their chief strategy of the server and Senior Vice President for external affairs. We are the nations oldest aging advocacy organization. Life after 65 has changed dramatically since we started in 1950. Where retirement once met a few years of leisure with secure pensions, todays Older Americans have the gift and challenge of planning for 2030 years of life. You are prepared. If you are prepared, traditional retirement plans have traditionally disappeared and individual savings retirements have not caught up. Longer life brings new health challenges. Women face unique kernels. They begin hurdles, they begin retirement that is full of many, the pay gap, lowercase means less money saved. Women who choose to leave the workforce to be a parent or caregiver have fewer Social Security benefits buildup. Women of color face an even deeper disparity. Over 70 of older Hispanic Women and over 64 of older africanamerican women are economically vulnerable. We know there are proven costeffective ways to help americans navigate life after 65. With the help of thousands of partners, our Program Addresses to essential pillars of life passed 65, health and economic security. Health is essential to independence, but older adults are disproportionately affected by chronic conditis such a diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. The good news is that chronic conditions can be prevented and managed. One example is the chronic disease selfmanagement program, available in community and online. It improves health and saves money. With help from congress, ncoa hopes to bring this to thousands of older adults. Falls are another Significant Health concern. The facts are alarming. , an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall. Adult19 minutes, an older dies from a fall. Medicare cause cost medicare 31 billion per year. They are preventable. Programs offers in committee such as a matter of balance and tai chi can reduce false by as much as 55 . Ncoa