News

  • Government Manipulation Inflation Benefits

    Education and Communication (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories); .TSCL is hopeful that lawmakers will successfully repeal and replace the SGR by the end of this year since doing so would bring increased stability to the Medicare program for both doctors and patients. However, we are opposed to offsets that would reduce Medicare benefits or require seniors to pay more for their health care, and we firmly believe that beneficiaries should not be penalized for the poor policy-making decisions that were made by Congress more than a decade ago. .Proponents of value-based healthcare say: … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending April 18 2014

    Economic recession isn't entirely to blame for low inflation. For more than three decades the federal government has made a substantial number of changes to the methodology it uses to calculate the consumer price index, which is used to determine the COLA. "Virtually all the changes have tended to reduce the measured rate of inflation," Cates says. "Not surprisingly, many COLA recipients sometimes tell us they suspect the government is manipulating the inflation measure to cut spending on their benefits," he adds. .For information about town hall meetings near you in the final days of the week-long recess, call the local offices of your elected officials. You can find contact information for your Members of Congress right here. .Beyond funding the government and raising the debt ceiling, TSCL was pleased that the Bipartisan Budget Act included the following three improvements to the Medicare program: … Continued

However, according to a 2015 report, older Americans lose approximately .5 billion each year to financial scams and abuse, and these numbers are increasing as technology makes it easier for scammers to target older Americans. A 2016 survey from the Investor Protection Trust found that almost 1-in-5 seniors, approximately 7 million Americans, have reported being victims of exploitation. .Source: Fiscal Year 2010 Inspector General Statement, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, November 2010. .This week, Members of Congress returned to Washington to begin working on a temporary measure that would avert a government shutdown on October 1st. In addition, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) announced its support for one new piece of legislation, and three key bills gained cosponsors. .The audit is part of long-delayed plans to recover money that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says it overpaid to plans that exaggerated the severity of illnesses of patients treated. The problem is one that the federal government has struggled with, unsuccessfully, for more than a decade. According to one estimate that appeared in Health Affairs, CMS will overpay Medicare Advantage plans by 0 billion over the next decade if the current "coding intensity adjustment" system remains in place. .Managing the cost of pet care grows more emotionally and financially challenging as we and our pets age. The cost of care often sets up ethical dilemmas, especially for older adults facing unfunded gaps in retirement income. .The Social Security Administration maintains a special Earnings Suspense File of wage reports that don't match the name and Social Security number of those in Social Security records. According to data from the Social Security Administration, an average of 9,762,500 wage reports per year with invalid names or Social Security numbers were received from 2000 through 2007 for an average of .68 billion in wages per year. That much in wages would be worth more than billion per year in Making Work Pay tax credits in 2009 and 2010 if those trends continue. .There will likely be court challenges to the President's actions, making it unclear how quickly any money would reach the unemployed. On top of that, it is unclear how many states will want to participate in this enhanced unemployment program or how many companies will want to suspend payroll taxes for employees only to have to pay them in 2021. .This situation is only for 30 months though. Once you turn age 66 you can earn as much as you want without reduction to your Social Security benefits. Meanwhile you continue to work and delay your retirement benefit allowing it to grow. Once you reach age 70 you should go ahead and switch to your own larger retirement benefit, since it won't grow any larger. .William told TSCL this week: "Senior citizens have the most to lose because they are by far the largest population of people who find themselves in need of costly in-home or nursing home care. For Congress not to be concerned with the catastrophic effect this would cause is cruel and unusual indifference to elderly and disabled Americans."