News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending January 24 2014

    Thousands of nursing homes across the country have not been checked to see if staff are following proper procedures to prevent coronavirus transmission, a form of community spread that is responsible for more than a quarter of the nation's Covid-19 fatalities. .This week, TSCL's Board of Trustees traveled to Washington, D.C. for their first meeting of the year. TSCL's all-volunteer Board of Trustees includes the following members: Edward Cates, Chairman; Tom O'Connell, Vice-Chairman; Charlie Flowers, Secretary; John Martinez, Treasurer; Michael Gales, PAC Treasurer; Rick Delaney, President and Liaison of The Retired Enlisted Association; and Larry Hyland, Immediate Past Chairman of TSCL. .Finally, one new cosponsor – Rep. Ted Yoho (FL-3) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1795), bringing the total up to one hundred and seventeen. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two federal provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of state and local government employees each year. … Continued

  • 0 3 Cola Lowest Ever Paid

    Sources: "Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens," Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2006, RL32004. .Actuaries aren't in agreement over how many more years of solvency Social Security has left. The 2018 Social Security Trustees Report estimates that the Social Security Trust Fund will become insolvent in 2034, about 15 years from now. The more pessimistic Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the depletion date would be two years sooner in 2032, only 13 years away. If Congress does nothing, and allows the Social Security Trust Fund to become insolvent, the program could still pay benefits, but benefits would be cut to coincide with the amount of revenue received — by about 25%. .Interview with author Mark Miller … Continued

"CBO's updated estimate, based on the latest economic data, continues to show that the Average Wage Index will likely drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and millions of Americans will receive lower Social Security benefits unless Congress acts. A medium earner in the affected cohort could lose 0 a year for the rest of their lives. While this is a smaller cut than initially estimated, Congress must still fix this flaw in the benefit formula. These are earned benefits, and already many seniors are just scraping by with the current modest benefits. That is why I will be reintroducing the Social Security COVID-19 Correction and Equity Act to fix the benefit formula and ensure it does not happen again," said Larson. . Double check the price quote that you received by checking the difference in price between several retail walk-in pharmacies and Humana's mail-in. Sometimes the price can be very different between the two. I learned that my drug plan's mail-in pharmacy would charge me 3 for three albuterol inhalers. The small local walk-in pharmacy was still charging just 1.99 for three. Often, mail order can be less expensive than walk-in retail. Check for each separate drug. You can use the Medicare drug plan finder to help you look up your plan and learn the cost of your co-pay or co-insurance. .Last year Americans were told that one of the ways to prevent being infected with Covid-19 is to wash hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds, and if that was not possible, use hand sanitizer. That resulted in a run on hand sanitizers and for awhile they were difficult to find. . Contact your doctor's office and alert them to this dilemma. Ask if they have emergency samples of Lantus and your blood pressure medicine that they can provide, or if they can give you the contact number of programs that can help you. .To make the Social Security COLA more adequate, The Senior Citizens League believes Congress must adopt the CPI-E Act (H.R. 1251). This bipartisan bill would base Social Security COLAs on the spending patterns of older Americans – not the spending patterns of young, working Americans – using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). .Sources: "Social Security The Notch Issue," GAO-HRD-88-62, March 1988, page 1Financial Management, Challenges in Meeting Requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act, GAO-05-417, March 200"Annual Statistical Survey 2004, Social Security Administration, Table 5.A.1. .I'm 63, married, and recently earned about ,000 a year until I got laid off in March. My wife is younger but only receives a small income from providing part-time day care services. We don't have any savings. I'm not receiving any Social Security now. Can I receive Social Security benefits and get unemployment benefits? .TSCL believes that the current WEP unfairly reduces the benefits of public servants, and we are pleased that support on Capitol Hill has continued to grow for the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act. .Worst of all, patients don't qualify for Medicare coverage of follow-up nursing home care, because Medicare requires three consecutive days in the hospital as an "inpatient." That leaves the patient and their families on their own to figure out how to pay nursing home bills, or to go without.