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  • Totalization With Mexico Would Add Billions In New Costs To Social Security

    Two Key Bills Gain Support .What do you think? Seniors are invited to participate in TSCL's annual 2014 Senior Survey. For a free 8-page special issue of TSCL's Best Ways to Save, send to cover postage and handling with your name and address to The Senior Citizens League, 1001 N. Fairfax St. 101, Alexandria, VA 22314. .When there's a COLA as low as 1.3%, a provision of law known as "hold harmless" ensures that an individual's net Social Security benefit will not decrease from December of one year to January of the next, because of an increase in the Part B premium. That's an important protection, but it doesn't go far enough. … Continued

  • Fight For Lower Drug Prices Heats Up In Congress

    For more information about these and other bills that would reduce prescription drug prices, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. For progress updates, follow The Senior Citizens League on Twitter. .But among other things, if consumers can't find the cost of health care, the idea of the free market is impossible. .The federal contribution would be redirected from disaster relief money at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those funds are not likely to last more than two months, and the President did not say when the benefits would kick in. … Continued

The TSCL report which contains Social Security Administration (SSA) data from 1937 through 2013, includes the following findings: .To learn how you can join the effort for an Emergency COLA and Medicare relief, Visit .At Wednesday's hearing, several lawmakers asked Congressman Price about his plans to implement a new executive order from President Trump – signed following his inauguration on January 20th – that will dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). To these and other questions about the ACA's repeal, Congressman Price responded ambiguously by assuring lawmakers that he would "make certain that we have the highest-quality health care and that every single American has access to affordable coverage." .The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation have boosted previous estimates and now say that switching to the chained consumer price index (C-CPI) will cut Social Security and other federal retirement benefits by 8 billion and increase taxes by 2 billion over the next 10 years. The loss to beneficiaries would compound over time and grows deeper each year as illustrated in the following chart. As seniors grow older and more likely to develop costly health conditions, their Social Security benefits would become less adequate to cover rising costs more quickly. .The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents pharmacy benefit managers that run the Medicare prescription drug plans targeted by the rebate rule, said at the time that it was exploring litigation. .It also included a second round of direct payments of ,200 per person, and up to ,000 per household. The bill also extended the 0 per week federal unemployment insurance benefit through January, which expired at the end of July. .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. .The proposal calls for switching to a more slowly-growing consumer price index (CPI), known as the "chained" CPI, to calculate annual COLAs. Chaining is an apt name for it because that's what it would do to benefits — chain them down. .TSCL agrees with members of the subcommittee and we share their concerns about fraud within the DI program. We feel strongly that the federal government must administer the necessary oversight to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. In the months ahead, we will continue to advocate on Capitol Hill for fraud prevention and for the administrative funding needed to make meaningful progress.