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  • H R 456 Consumer Price Index For Elderly Consumers Cpi E Act

    Sources: National Health Expenditures 2011 Highlights, Department of Health and Human Services, January 8, 2013. .The Senior Citizens League believes that expanding "means testing" to Part D and freezing the income levels through 2019 is a backdoor benefit cut that will eventually affect even middle-income seniors. The chief reason is that as the economy grows over the next decade, the frozen income thresholds will not increase in-kind, subjecting many more seniors to the "means test." The Senior Citizens League estimates that given different inflation scenarios, individual seniors who made between ,000 and ,000 in 2010 could be subjected to the "means test" in 2019, because of the frozen income thresholds. In addition, if the income thresholds for the "means test" had been allowed to increase, (the case before the PPACA was signed into law), we estimate that they would have increased to an amount between 0,500 to 1,800 in 2019. .Unlike other government penalties, such as a tax penalty, the extra 0 per month is permanent, and is payable for the rest of the time he has Medicare. To avoid further penalties, we strongly urge your daughter to get her father-in-law enrolled in Medicare Part B as quickly as possible. If her father-in-law only receives Social Security and has limited savings, he may qualify for a Medicare Savings Program that would pay the cost of the Part B premium. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner

    War Savings to Fund "Doc Fix" Extension? .TSCL believes that beneficiaries need to maintain the freedom to choose their plan, their providers, and how they get their care. "We urge CMS and states to ensure a thorough beneficiary education process and have provisions that allow care with existing providers, especially during the transition," Hyland says. . You bring up an important gap in our Social Security protections. In order for children to qualify for a Social Security dependent benefit, that benefit would need to be based on an account of a parent who meets eligibility requirements for Social Security and is deceased, disabled, or retired. The parent would need to meet the eligibility rules in order for your grandson to receive a benefit based on the parent's account. However, if the biological parent has not yet met all eligibility rules then, in order to receive a Social Security benefit, you would need to first adopt the child so that he qualifies for a benefit based on your account. … Continued

Individuals with incomes below ,000, and whose Part B premiums are automatically deducted from their Social Security benefits, are protected from a reduction in their Social Security benefits when Part B premiums increase more than their Social Security benefits. The provision was triggered twice in recent years, in 2016 when there was no COLA, and in 2017 when the COLA was just 0.3%. .That is why a bipartisan coalition in the House recently proposed two new bills to prevent "price gouging" for "taxpayer funded COVID-19 drugs" to ensure affordable pricing. .Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-4) introduced H.R. 1170 on February 13, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. .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 costs of goods and services typically used by retirees, found that, while consumer prices flatlined in 2020 through January 2021, costs are now sharply increasing. .The information you do get can seem contradictory. The one piece of advice almost all retirement advisors do agree on is this — starting Social Security at 62 is a bad idea unless you are terminally ill with only a few more years to live. Your benefits will be permanently reduced up to 30% depending on your full retirement age, and if you are working, your benefits could be reduced due to earnings restriction rules. .CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf made the report to President Obama's Fiscal Commission which is developing a plan to shrink the national deficit by 2015 — a target that TSCL believes will be extremely difficult to achieve without deep cuts to Social Security and widespread tax increases on middle-income taxpayers. .Generic drugs account for 84% of drugs sold nationally, but only 12% of spending. .The CARES Act provides employers with incentives to retain workers on the payroll through a tax credit. In addition, employers are allowed to defer the employer portion of payroll taxes for 2020, with the taxes due in two equal installments by December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2022. ."If more retired taxpayers aren't paying taxes on their Social Security benefits, that's good news for their tax liability, but would also mean their adjusted gross income was lower than in 2019," says Johnson. "And that could mean those households might be living too close for comfort to the federal poverty level," she adds.