Although most seniors don't know it, many seniors will actually receive a smaller Social Security check in 2007 due to a little-known provision of law that protects a person's Social Security benefits from being reduced due to increases in Medicare premiums. That protection still applies to Medicare Part B, but does not apply to the new Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs.

September 15, 2006: USA Today published our op-ed opposing Medicare means testing, called "Costs Will Outstrip Savings." Seen by approximately six million people, this piece helped influence the national debate, which ultimately led to more than 14 new co-sponsors signing on to legislation opposing the means testing of Medicare.

September 1, 2006: Our op-ed, "Medicare Means Testing a Costly Slip" was published by the Rocky Mountain News, seen by more than half a million people in and around Denver, Colorado.   

For the first time since Medicare's creation, Medicare Part B – which covers doctors' visits, tests, and outpatient hospital care – will be "means tested," meaning seniors earning more than $80,000 per year will pay more for services than lower-income seniors.

While it may seem fair that wealthy seniors pay more than poorer seniors, the change will create a host of new problems for rich and poor alike, since wealthy seniors will increasingly abandon Medicare while the oldest and sickest become stranded in an ever worsening system.

August 2006: When Congressman Charles Gonzalez of Texas introduced a bill to honor America's seniors, the Primetime Newspaper Group in San Antonio (made up of the Southside and Northside Reporter, The Herald and others) published our op-ed co-written by the Congressman and TREA Senior Citizens League Chairman Ralph McCutchen.

Called "The Last Challenge of the Greatest Generation," the papers are distributed to more than 100,000 homes in the region.

August, 2006: Our editorial, "Medicaid and the Real Immigration Debate," was published by Senior Times of Spokane, Washington, a magazine read by more than 84,000 seniors. It asks the following question: if millions of immigrants who illegally crossed the border are suddenly granted amnesty, what happens to benefits – such as Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security – for people who have been living and working here legally for decades?

July, 2006: "The Social Security Cost of Living Increase is Not Keeping Up"
Is the COLA losing its fizz? Many seniors think so – and are feeling the pinch on everything from gas and groceries to home heating and medication. Written by League Chairman Ralph McCutchen, this op-ed has already appeared in dozens of newspapers across the United States.
(Read as Text Only) (See How It Originally Appeared) 

July, 2006: "Social Security Trust Money Going to Illegal Workers"
This letter-to-the editor by League Chairman Ralph McCutchen appeared in two Florida newspapers: The Ft. Pierce Tribune and The Vero Beach Press Journal.