News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending August 29 2014

    If you have been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms. .Your total earnings, including your earnings now until you stop working. .Too many doctors are prescribing large quantities of narcotics and addictive drugs that may be finding their way onto the streets, or putting patients at risk of addiction. The doctors, in turn, are accepting kickbacks and other "incentives" while billing Medicare for the cost. The following are just three of the examples from a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General: … Continued

  • Social Security Medicare Question April 2012 Advisor

    On Thursday – seven years to the day that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law – lawmakers in the House were scheduled to vote on the AHCA. However, lacking the 218 votes needed to win passage, leaders postponed the vote. After last-minute changes were made to the text – including a repeal of the ACA's "essential health benefits" requirement – President Trump demanded a Friday vote. .False and invalid Social Security numbers SSNs are supplied to employers virtually without any serious or immediate consequence. Illegal immigrants work using numbers belonging to another person, numbers that have been made up, by using "non-work" SSNs. Employers report the wages using these numbers or in some cases where no number exists, file the reports using a series of zeros in the SSN box (000-00-000).(7) In addition, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally may work under one or more aliases. The unauthorized wages earned and reported under invalid SSNs represent a rapidly growing future benefit liability should Congress enact immigration reform that gives work authorization to immigrants working in this country illegally today. .However, price negotiations could be included later this year in a reconciliation bill, a fast-track budgetary move that only needs 51 votes to pass the Senate and cannot be blocked using a filibuster. … Continued

This year, The Senior Citizens League has heard from supporters like never before about some extreme costs of prescription drugs. One supporter told us she pays ,800 for a three-month supply of insulin as a type 2 diabetic. She said: "I do not have that kind of money! My doctor has been giving me samples to keep me afloat but I cannot expect him to do that forever … I will have to sell my house to pay for insulin." .To pay for the boost, advocates propose lifting the payroll taxable maximum so that higher earners pay Social Security taxes on their fair share. In 2017 workers pay Social Security taxes on the first 7,200 in income. But the highest earners, like highly paid CEOs, don't pay anything on earnings over that amount. .For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings during the summer recess, call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE. For a list of ten sample town hall questions, click HERE. .More than 55% of participants in TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey support federal programs that help with energy assistance. .The CR that was adopted on Thursday will provide funding for two weeks, which lawmakers hope will give them enough time to iron out the details for a larger spending package. TSCL will be following the negotiations closely in the coming days and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .And one more supporter said: "At present I am spending out of pocket each month and I fear that will only get worse as I age." .The Senior Citizens League endorses legislation introduced by Representative Ted Deutch (FL-22) that would exempt Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from any federal balanced budget requirement. "We believe that a constitutional amendment is not needed to address the problems these programs face," Johnson says. "What we do need is strong program financing to ensure retirement and healthcare benefits for all." What do you think? Take The Senior Citizens League's 2018 Senior Survey at . .If the bill is going to reach the President's desk for his signature the House will have to agree to the changes the Senate made and pass it one more time. It may take a couple of weeks if that is to happen, however, because the House will not be back in session until the week of April 12. .Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated earlier this week, "What I hope to be able to do is keep the government open, to avoid a government shutdown, to do no harm, and to be as boring as possible." The House planned to vote on a package that would simply extend current funding levels through mid-December on Thursday, and the Senate was set on taking it up next week.