News

  • Seniors And The Covid Vaccine

    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. .The legislation would provide a ,000 settlement payable in four annual installments of ,250 or an improved monthly benefit for Notch Babies born 1917 through 1926 or survivors who receive benefits on their account. .Social Security Loss of Buying Power report including study methodology available for download. Loss of Buying Power Report. … Continued

  • Legislative Update December 2016

    We could, too, but would need to consider mechanisms outside of our current box — at least for this national emergency. .The toll free information number is 1-800-772-1213 and operates from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday through Friday. To report Social Security fraud, call 1-800-269-027Also, you can look at the Social Security Administration Web Site. www.ssa.gov .Sources: National Health Expenditures 2011 Highlights, Department of Health and Human Services, January 8, 2013. … Continued

If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to prevent and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Among other things, it would enact stronger fraud penalties, curb mistaken payments by the agencies, phase out the ineffective "pay and chase" practice, reduce the theft of physician identities, and improve the sharing of fraud data among states, agencies, and programs. .Social Security arose again at the hearing when Committee Member James Clyburn (SC) commented on the payroll tax cap, which is currently set at 6,800. He suggested that the cap be raised to cover 90 percent of income – as it did in the early 1980s – in an effort to restore the program to solvency. Some Members scowled disapprovingly at this proposal and it is still unclear whether the Committee will even touch Social Security, but if they do, this option could appear on the short-list. Clyburn asked Barthold to research the potential effects of raising the wage cap and to report back to the Joint Committee. .Earnings are vital to the amount you receive because your wages form the basis of your Social Security benefit. SSA calculates your benefit based on your highest 35 years of earnings. When you sign up for a "my Social Security" account, the estimate will list every year of earnings on file. Count them up! Ideally you will have more than 35 years of earnings. But that may be hard for some workers to achieve, particularly those who spent time at home raising a family or providing caregiving for older family members (often women). .In the past five years the annual adjustment has averaged just 1.4 percent — less than half the 3 percent average of the prior two decades starting in 1990. Retirees and disabled Social Security recipients are reporting that the COLA is doing a poor job of what it's intended to do — protecting the buying power of their Social Security benefits. According to an annual survey performed by TSCL, Social Security benefits have lost 31 percent of their buying power since 2000. .If signed into law, the Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply Social Security payroll taxes to earnings up to the contribution and benefit base and to all earnings in excess of 0,000. .While most in Washington acknowledge this dilemma, and House Republicans have put forward a plan to address the issue, our leaders have yet to agree upon a solution to preserve the program for seniors beyond that date, and instead are pitting each other against seniors. .TSCL Meets with Members of Congress .Social Security is the largest single source of income for older Americans, providing the majority of income for half of retirees, and at least 90% of income for 18% of retirees, according to another think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. .The Effect of Economic Conditions Was Not Foreseen, and Therefore Could Not Have Been Intended by Congress