News
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Legislative Update For The Week Ending October 7 2011
The crackdown was unique not only for its scale, but also. No Lie! Affordable Care Act Not So Affordable ."The group of Democrats blocked one committee from advancing their party's drug-pricing legislation, with two members arguing it was too far-reaching and could stymie innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Some of those Democrats also want to rein in a proposal to expand Medicare to include dental coverage, a high priority for progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)." .Today's working women, even those who worked in the same positions as men, tend to earn less during their working careers. The Economic Policy Institute reports that to every dollar a man makes, women of Asian descent earn 88 cents, Caucasian women make 81 cents, African American women make 65 cents, and Hispanic women make 59 cents. This only worsens the low lifetime earnings problem. … Continued
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Legislative Update Week Ending January 13 2017
This week, lawmakers passed legislation to avert a government shutdown and those in the majority party continued working on legislation to reform the tax code. In addition, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw several key bills gain support in the House and Senate. ."Our health care system is a symbol of our national identity and we are committed to defending it. The actions we are taking today will help protect Canadians' access to the medication they rely on," said Patty Hajdu, Canada's minister of health. .Second, the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1902) gained one new cosponsor in Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), bringing the cosponsor total to 16If signed into law, H.R. 1902 would strengthen Social Security benefits by improving the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increasing monthly benefits by 2 percent, creating a new Special Minimum Benefit equal to 125% of the poverty line, providing a tax cut to Social Security beneficiaries, applying the payroll tax to annual income over 0,000, and gradually increasing the payroll tax rate by 0.25%. … Continued
Prescription Drug Costs .Generations have watched big-government, socialist systems fail, one after another, in countries experimenting with soviet-style, centralized planning. Medicare-for-all would be no different, leading to longer wait times and lowered standards of care at an unsustainable cost to the American taxpayer. .For tips on which questions you should ask your Member of Congress at your next town hall meeting, click HERE. To find contact information for your Members of Congress, to learn about important issues affecting seniors, or to sign a petition to Congress, visit the ACTION CENTER of our website. .The payraise goes into effect automatically unless denied by legislation, or adjusted by a provision of law that prevents Congress from receiving a percentage of pay increase that would be greater than any payraise received by the General Schedule to federal workers. When Congress passed legislation in December of 2010 that froze the pay of federal workers through December 31, 2012, they effectively froze their own pay as well. No similar provision of law, however, prevents Congress from receiving a bigger COLA than seniors. The adjustment for Congress is not determined like the COLA for seniors, which is based on changes in consumer prices. Instead the Congressional COLA is based on changes in private sector wages and salaries as measured by the Employment Cost Index. Members of Congress were originally scheduled to receive a pay adjustment in January 2010, of 2.1%, and in 2011 of 0.9% had legislation not prohibited it. .This week, the Social Security Administration implemented an online security policy that unexpectedly locked many beneficiaries out of their online accounts. In addition, lawmakers in Congress continued their seven-week summer recess. .Social Security benefits are determined by the income earned (up to the taxable maximum) over a working career, and the number of years worked. The more money you make and pay taxes on, and the more years you work the larger your monthly Social Security benefit will be. The Social Security Administration calculates your benefits based on the 35 years in which you earned the most money. But many women, especially those who become mothers or caregivers, give up a substantial portion of their earnings to care for a family. .With no increase in Social Security benefits over the past two years, seniors participating in TSCL surveys say they are putting off visits to the doctors, and many are not filling prescriptions. But foregoing healthcare can backfire, leaving you with bigger health problems and bills down the road. Here are three things you can start doing right now to lower your Medicare costs and improve your health. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following a week-long holiday recess, and four Members of Congress signed on as cosponsors to key legislation that would make the Social Security program more equitable for public employees. .That said, the SSDI program paid .2 billion in benefits to ineligible people in FY2012 according to the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General. And skyrocketing enrollment is putting added financial strains on the program. Both the Social Security Trustees and the Congressional Budget Office have recently forecast that the SSDI trust fund will become fully depleted in three years. When that occurs, program revenues will only be sufficient to pay about 80% of benefits. Unless Congress takes action, severely disabled beneficiaries would face benefit cuts of 20%.