News

  • Update For March 6 2021

    Beginning in 2017, monthly premiums for Part B and Part D would increase by fifteen percent for those with higher incomes. If the plan were adopted, the income threshold would drop from ,000 to ,000, and it would not be adjusted for inflation until one-quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries qualify to pay the increased premiums. .Once non-citizen workers obtain a valid SSN, they can provide SSA with evidence of earnings reports from unauthorized employment prior to receiving their SSN. Their earnings will be reinstated under their valid SSN. In addition when a person files for benefits, a SSA employee reviews the earnings record with the worker and assists to establish any earnings that are not shown or are not correctly posted. .Congress managed to pass a short-term fix to prevent a 19% benefit cut that was due to hit disabled Social Security beneficiaries by the end of this year. The legislation heads off the cut by temporarily transferring some payroll tax revenues over the next three years, expanding measures to better ensure medical eligibility for benefits, and by preventing improper payments due to fraudulent work. The stronger eligibility and anti-fraud provisions are strongly supported by TSCL, incorporating several recommendations that TSCL presented last fall to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. The legislation: … Continued

  • Medicare Part B Premium Rises How Much Will It Take Of Your Cola

    Senate Committees Question OMB Nominee .Most working people pay Social Security taxes on every dollar earned and many pay more in Social Security taxes than in federal income taxes. Yet nearly one out of five workers — some 18% — pay no Social Security taxes on any earnings over the Social Security taxable maximum — which is 8,400 in 2018. .The Advisory Office would give seniors hope in recovering their assets. It would address the low reporting rates by directing the FTC to educate seniors, families, and caregivers about the process for contacting law enforcement after being targeted in a fraud scheme. It would direct FTC to help improve the nation's fraud response efforts by reforming FTC's complaint system as well as enhancing fraud surveillance through better coordination with law enforcement agencies. … Continued

This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for six key bills that would strengthen the Social Security and Medicare programs. .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. .On Tuesday, with a vote of 31-8, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act (H.R. 1190) – a bill that TSCL supports enthusiastically. H.R. 1190, if signed into law, would repeal the controversial Medicare cost-cutting board that was created by the ACA back in 2010. .In your book The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security you say that today's retirees need to "rethink retirement." In what ways do our ideas about retirement need changing? .What Is the Risk of Catching the Coronavirus on a Plane? .According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), for a person who retired at age 65 with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25% (6). .The committee found that AbbVie inflated prices for the drugs while its executives pocketed growing bonuses. The committee's two-year investigation found that AbbVie "pursued a variety of tactics to increase drug sales while raising prices for Americans, including exploiting the patent system to extend its market monopoly, abusing orphan drug protections to further block competition, and engaging in anticompetitive pricing practices." .How much are you over-paying for your prescription drugs? The only way to find out is to do a drug plan comparison based on all the drugs you take. This is the time of year you can make changes during the Medicare Open Enrollment period, which runs through the month of November and ends December 7th. Give the Medicare Drug Plan Finder a try. You can get free one-on-one counseling by contacting your local Area on Aging, State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) or senior centers and ask for help comparing Medicare drug plans. .This week, TSCL announced its support for legislation that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46) recently re-introduced: the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act (H.R. 2745). Each year, millions of unauthorized workers use invalid, stolen, or fraudulent Social Security numbers to get jobs in the United States. Later, if they receive "green cards" or work authorization, they may file a claim for Social Security benefits based on those illegal earnings. TSCL feels that Congress should put an end to this practice in order to protect the integrity of the Social Security program and to prevent further strains on the Trust Fund. Rep. Rohrabacher's bill – which was introduced with twenty cosponsors last week – would do just that, and we look forward to working with him throughout the 113th Congress to help build support for it.