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  • Ask The Advisor Do Members Of Congress Pay Into Social Security

    TSCL Supports New Legislation .Members of Congress remained in their home states and districts to continue the summer recess this week. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 6th. In the meantime, most Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings in their home states and districts, presenting constituents with excellent opportunities to have their most pressing questions answered. TSCL encourages its members and supporters to attend these events and to voice their concerns about important Social Security and Medicare issues like inadequate cost-of-living adjustments and skyrocketing prescription drug prices. .Your cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) "overpays" you. Yes, that is an outrageous statement — especially since you haven't gotten a COLA boost for two years. Nevertheless, calling it "The Moment of Truth Project," that's what the President's Fiscal Commission is saying in making the case for the government to switch to a more slowly- growing "chained" Consumer Price Index (CPI). … Continued

  • Action Call

    The abrupt and severe contraction in the U.S. economy caused by the coronavirus has far-reaching consequences for Social Security. Twenty million workers filed claims for unemployment between March 15, 2020 and April 17, 2020, a level that has not been seen since the Great Depression. Both the wide-scale shutdowns and layoffs, as well as provisions of the coronavirus CARES Act stimulus legislation significantly reduce the anticipated amount of payroll taxes flowing into Social Security this year. .In case Congress is not able to come to an agreement concerning legislation to lower prescription drug prices, there are reports that President Trump is considering executive action to cut drug prices ahead of the 2020 election as he enters his re-election seeking to rebut Democratic criticism that his policies have hurt U.S. health care. .Rapidly climbing prices for consumer goods and services are making financial choices for older adults especially challenging this year. But eventually, these higher prices might mean a higher Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) for next year. In the meantime, older consumers are struggling to figure out how to pay for. Buying Power of Social Security Benefits Wiped Out by Soaring Inflation An abrupt jump in inflation in February and March of this year wiped out a short-lived improvement in the buying power of Social Security benefits in 2020, according to TSCL's latest study on rising senior costs. The study, which compares the growth in the Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA)s with increases in the. Are We Experiencing the Return of Inflation? , editor … Continued

Nineteen percent (19%) postponed filling one or more prescriptions due to price spikes caused by coronavirus shortages or supply chain disruptions. .Beneficiaries are telling other Mexicans about the Social Security benefits. .What you can do: To sign a petition, click here. .While the other two rulings went against the Trump Administration, this one was a win on a key piece of Trump's health-care agenda at the end of his administration. .For some tips on how to reduce taxes on your Social Security Benefits, here's an article by Emily Brandon, author of Pensionless: The 10-Step Solution for a Stress-Free Retirement. Emily Brandon's Planning to Retire Blog can be found at: Money.USNews.com. .Patients would spend less to achieve better health. Value-based care systems focus on helping patients to recover from illness and on managing or avoiding chronic disease. The aim is to decrease the need for doctor visits, medical tests and procedures, and to reduce the amount of money spent on prescriptions while improving health. Value-based care encourages health providers to spend time on prevention-based services in order to focus more efforts on managing chronic disease with the goal of reducing costs like emergency room visits and hospitalizations. .In 2017, there was a tiny 0.3% COLA and raising Sally's benefit from ,000 to ,00But in 2017 the Medicare Part B premium took a stiff jump to Once again, because the COLA was so low, Sally's share of the Medicare premium was adjusted downward so that her Social Security benefit would not be reduced. However, virtually all of her .00 per month COLA was put toward the increased Part B premium, and today Sally pays a monthly Part B premium of 7.90. .TSCL believes much more stringent measures are needed to protect Social Security and SSI programs from document fraud. TSCL supports legislation that would ban the use of unauthorized earnings for determining entitlement to Social Security benefits. In addition, TSCL supports stronger penalties for the use of fraudulent documents for obtaining federal benefits, including SSI. .Finally, one new cosponsor – Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-3) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1795) this week, bringing the total up to ninety-four. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of state and local government employees each year.