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Category News Press Releases Page 18
But it's no "small change," warns The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. In fact, it could reduce lifetime Social Security benefits by tens of thousands of dollars over a retirement. .Talk with people at your local Area Agency on Aging or local senior services organizations. Find out about the senior housing options in your area, what they cost , and whether there are any charitable senior living programs that can help people like your mother until her home sells. .Together, these three changes would strengthen the solvency of the Social Security program and cut taxes for millions of older Americans. In the letter that was delivered on Thursday, Art Cooper – Chairman of TSCL's Board of Trustees – wrote: "If enacted, these reforms would go a long way in strengthening the Social Security program, and TSCL's members and supporters hope they will be included in comprehensive tax reform legislation." … Continued
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Legislative Update For Week Ending June 14 2013
TSCL would like to thank Reps. Mike McIntyre (NC-7), G.K. Butterfield (NC-1), and Charles Gonzalez (TX-20) for taking the time to discuss the issues that are most important to our members and supporters. TSCL also met with Jeremy House, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Butterfield, Conrad Risher, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Gonzalez, Tommy Walker, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1), Rebecca Shaw, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Chris Gibson (NY-20), and Nathaniel Ferguson, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-2). .House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced earlier this month that the House will soon take up surprise billing legislation. TSCL waits with anticipation on legislation to end surprise billing practices as it is something we support and want to see stopped at the hospital doors. .TSCL's legislative team is monitoring the tax reform negotiations closely, and we have serious concerns about several provisions that would impact older Americans, including the following five… … Continued
In 1977 Congress enacted changes to the Social Security benefit formula that affected seniors just two years from first entitlement to Social Security. A transitional formula supplied by Congress to phase in the changes, failed to prevent abrupt cuts and big disparities – as much as 1.80 per month in the well – publicized case of two sisters who worked for the same company. .Poll after poll has shown the American public supports expanding Social Security. It,s time Congress listens to the American people who want to expand Social Security, not the Wall Street millionaires who want to cut it. .Gathering support for the legislation, which would cap drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries and force drug manufacturers to provide Medicare inflation rebates, has been an uphill battle for Grassley over the past year. ."The bill has been fiercely opposed by Republicans and the branded pharmaceutical industry, which would likely lose revenue if the bill passed, leading to 40 fewer new drugs coming to the market in the U.S. over the next two decades, according to the CBO estimate. .Johnson conducts research on the growth of the prices of goods and services that form a major part of a retirees' household budgets. According to Johnson, Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs was a total cost of ,097 in 2020 (including what beneficiaries and their drug plans pay). "Although drug plans vary, under the standard Part D benefit, the beneficiary is responsible for about 25% of that amount, and drug plans cover the remaining 75% up to an initial coverage limit which is ,130 in 2021," Johnson says. .Prevention of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Ensure that scarce Medicare and Social Security dollars are spent properly. .According to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) recent baseline data for the Social Security Trust Funds, Social Security is expected to receive about 7 billion in payroll tax revenues in 202The CBO further estimates that the Trust Fund would receive billion in revenues in 2021 from the taxation of Social Security benefits. .TSCL agrees, and we enthusiastically support the PRIME Act. We look forward to working with Reps. Roskam and Carney through the remainder of the 114th Congress to help build support for the critical piece of legislation. .But among other things, if consumers can't find the cost of health care, the idea of the free market is impossible.
