News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending July 17 2015

    In October, the Social Security Administration announced that benefits will increase by 2.8 percent in January 2019, but approximately 2 million seniors with the lowest Social Security benefits will not see any net increase in their monthly checks after Medicare Part B premiums are automatically deducted. It will be the fourth year in a row that this group will not see a boost in net benefits due to Part B premiums, which are rising several times faster than Social Security COLAs. .In his testimony, Mr. Goss explained that the Social Security DI Trust Fund will be fully solvent until 2032 – four years later than was projected in last year's report. In addition, the OASI Trust Fund will be fully solvent until late 2034 – just a few months earlier than was projected in last year's report. For the combined Trust Funds, the outlook is very similar to last year's and only minor changes will be needed to ensure the program's solvency. .Insurers make major changes in their plans every year, like increasing premiums, co-pays, dropping coverage and even closing plans altogether. But according to a survey conducted by TSCL earlier this year, less than 18 percent of respondents said they switched their Part D or Medicare Advantage health plan for 201Medicare's annual Open Enrollment period starts earlier this year -- on October 15th -- and ends December 7th. Medicare beneficiaries should start the process now to find out what their choices are and how much they could save with a new Part D or Medicare Advantage plan. … Continued

  • Q A March April 2020

    The group of retirees born from 1917 through 1926 (1), who became eligible for retirement benefits immediately after the 1977 law changes, was affected. Those born during the Notch years generally received substantially lower benefits than those paid to retirees born before and after them. When represented on a chart, the disparity in benefits forms a deep "V" notch, hence the name. .We enthusiastically support H.R. 1811 and H.R. 1716, and we were pleased to see support grow for both bills this week. .Unfortunately, no. The highly controversial U.S. Social Security Totalization Agreement with Mexico that was signed by the Bush Administration is still pending. The agreement has not been submitted for review to the President or Congress, but that could quickly change, particularly in an election year. TSCL believes that if put into effect as it currently is written, the agreement would drain funds away from Social Security that are needed for the benefits of U.S. senior citizens. Totalization agreements were designed to eliminate dual taxation that occurs when a workers from one country works in another country and is required to pay Social Security taxes to both countries on the same earnings. … Continued

Generally, you pay higher premiums for plans that have no deductibles. All too often, though, Medicare consumers pay premiums that far exceed the cost of the deductible because they don't do the math. Having a plan that pays the Part A (hospital) deductible of 2 makes sense, because just one trip to the hospital could take your entire month's Social Security benefit. .The orders were issued on a Friday which left little time for analysts to review them and comment prior to the weekend. However, since then we have learned new information, we want to share with you. .Most working people pay Social Security taxes on every dollar earned and many pay more in Social Security taxes than in federal income taxes. Yet nearly one out of five workers — some 18% — pay no Social Security taxes on any earnings over the Social Security taxable maximum — which is 8,400 in 2018. .TSCL supports legislation that would provide a more fair and accurate COLA by basing it on a senior index like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). If seniors received a COLA based on the CPI-E, TSCL estimates that seniors with average benefits of ,200 per month in 2014 would receive ,753 more over a 30-year retirement. By their final year, their benefit would be ,652 per year more than if the CPI-W were used. .This year, The Senior Citizens League has heard from supporters like never before about some extreme costs of prescription drugs. One supporter told us she pays ,800 for a three-month supply of insulin as a type 2 diabetic. She said: "I do not have that kind of money! My doctor has been giving me samples to keep me afloat but I cannot expect him to do that forever … I will have to sell my house to pay for insulin." .Sen. Bernard Sanders (VT) introduced S. 500 on March 7, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Finance. .Social Security was never designed to be the sole source of retirement income. It replaces around 40 percent of the average earnings of its beneficiaries. Pensions and savings form the two other major streams of retirement income, but people who retire with all three sources of retirement income are rare. Even worse, recent research from the National Institute of Retirement Security found that more than 40% of older adults have no retirement income other than Social Security. .How would seniors go about improving Social Security's financing in the future? A clear majority, 67% strongly agree that it would be fair to require workers to pay Social Security taxes on all of their income rather than letting some pay nothing on income over 0,000. More than 42% strongly agree that with Americans living longer, it would be fair to raise the age for full retirement very gradually, by two months per year to age 69 for people who are age 49 and younger. TSCL was inundated with email comments, and what you're saying should give incumbents pause. .This is a major blow to military retirees whose reasons for settling around a military base included getting the health care they were promised when they agreed to serve a career in the Armed Forces.