News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending April 12 2013

    According to a report from Kaiser Health News, the skepticism is "Because whether it's sharing the credit for a legislative victory with the other party or running afoul of the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, neither Democrats nor Republicans are sure the benefits are worth the risks, according to several of those familiar with the debate on Capitol Hill. .Second, in October, Congress passed legislation to strengthen Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI) program. Many of the recommendations that TSCL made to the House Ways and Means Committee back in August were signed into law, including provisions that will ramp up fraud prevention and test new work incentives for beneficiaries. Most importantly, the law prevents a 20 percent benefit cut that was scheduled to hit 11 million disabled beneficiaries in December 201A cut of that size would have been truly devastating for enrollees, and TSCL applauds Members of Congress for averting it. .However, current benefits, as we will learn today, are inadequate, unfair, and in many cases discriminatory, because of systemic economic inequities. … Continued

  • Social Security Dec

    When asked whether the waiting periods for disability and Medicare benefits should be eliminated, 67% of TSCL's poll participants support eliminating the waiting periods for both Social Security and Medicare. Only 18% supported keeping both waiting periods, 9% supported eliminating the 2-year wait for Medicare alone, and 5% supported eliminating the 5-month wait for Social Security alone. .From my standpoint, the Federal Government has no business obtaining your personal medical data. There is no space in the examining room for the government. In response, I introduced H.R. 3218 on October 13, 2011 with Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas. Rep. Huelskamp wrote an op-ed that first brought light to this issue and I am happy to have worked with him in crafting this legislation. H.R. 3218 would "amend section 1343 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure the privacy of individually identifiable health information in connection with risk adjustment." The Federal Government should not be inserting itself in your health care decision-making process. .It would have to report to Congress every two years on regulatory and financial developments that affect older investors. Reports would have to include recommendations for possible regulatory or legislative action. … Continued

How do I go about contacting the Social Security Administration? .However, right now there is no guarantee Republicans would do that, and instead, it is probable they would blame the Medicare cuts on the Democrats. .Both bills would stop a premium hike of nearly 50 percent that's scheduled to hit millions of beneficiaries in January. They would also prevent a deductible increase of nearly , from 7 to Most Medicare beneficiaries will not be affected by the increases due to the "hold harmless provision" that protects them in years when premium increases are large enough to reduce their monthly Social Security checks. Since seniors are expected to receive no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year, the premium rates for around 70 percent of beneficiaries will remain unchanged from this year's. .Even if your income will be slightly higher in 2018 you should apply, because the income and resource limits are adjusted annually and will likely be somewhat higher next year. "Resources " refer to money in checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Don't rule out applying just because you own your own home. Your home, car, household items, burial plot up to ,500 for burial expenses per person, and life insurance policies ARE NOT counted as resources. .If adopted, H.R. 1553 would base annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E). .Currently, the IRS allows Americans with high health care costs to deduct certain out-of-pocket expenses from their taxes. This deduction makes a big difference for those battling high medical costs as a result of sickness or age-related complications. .The TSCL legislative team continues to work diligently to promote the issues affecting our members. While much of this week's success was focused on current bills, our team also strives to stay on top of forth-coming legislation yet to be formally introduced. The work of our committed legislative team enables TSCL to keep capable eyes and ears on Congress' inner-workings to better represent the concerns of our valued members. .TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 4704, H.R. 4841, and H.R. 2212, and we will continue to advocate for their passage in the months ahead. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .In other words, next year's COLA could be calculated based at least in part on guesses. That could be disastrous for seniors.