News

  • Social Security Medicare Questions July 2013

    TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 2745 and H.R. 2305, and we were pleased to see support grow for both of them this week. ."This leaves 20 percent of survey participants who just aren't sure if their Social Security benefits will be taxable this tax season or not, more than triple the 6 percent who were uncertain about the 2019 tax year," Johnson says. The survey, which was conducted online from mid-January through February, had more than 864 participants. .(Washington, DC) – The upcoming Supreme Court Case on immigration could have significant consequences for Social Security and Medicare, says a report , released today by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments April 18th on President Obama's executive action on immigration. The president's immigration policy changes would allow an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants, including parents of U.S. citizens or lawful residents, to obtain temporary deferral of deportation, work authorization and potential access to Social Security and Medicare benefits. … Continued

  • Congressional Corner Representative Peter Roskam Il 6 Feed

    This week, lawmakers remained in their home states and districts for a week-long spring break. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, March 2In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be hosting town hall meetings, which The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) encourages its supporters to attend. .Did Members of Congress receive a COLA this year? If so did they get more than the 3.6% that seniors received? Is it true they don't pay into Social Security? .Having a plan that covers Part D deductible generally is the better choice if you must take a lot of monthly prescriptions or if you have high drug costs. If you only require a few prescriptions or low cost generics, you might find that by going ahead and paying the deductible you recover that cost in much lower premiums. The only way to tell is by using Medicare's Drug Plan Finder to compare plan costs based on the prescriptions you take. … Continued

The other big variable in health care is insuring against the risk of a big tab for long-term care. This is an area where we just don't have very good options right now. The market for private long-term care insurance doesn't function very well -- the cost of coverage has been soaring, and the number of insurance companies in the market has been shrinking. Medicaid is the country's biggest payer for nursing home bills, but you need to spend down to poverty levels to qualify and most often your care choices are limited. The other options are "self-insuring" paying out of pocket if you're very affluent, or if like many older senior Americans, you rely on family members for help. .Sources: "Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens," Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2006, RL32004. .Conn received more than .5 million in attorney's fees from the Social Security Administration, making him the third highest paid disability lawyer in the country. Reviews of Dougherty's bank accounts found ,000 in unexplained deposits. Senator Tom Coburn (OK) told 60 Minutes, "If all these people are disabled…I want them all to get it and then we need to figure out how we're going to fund it. But my investigation tells me and my common sense tells me that we got a system that's being gamed pretty big now." .Click here to add your name to a petition, learn how you can help, or take a poll. .The following Members of Congress, among many others, will be holding town hall meetings this week: Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA), Sen. Michael Crapo (ID), Sen. Jerry Moran (KS), Sen. Pat Roberts (KS), Rep. Garret Graves (LA-6), Rep. Jody Hice (GA-10), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23), Rep. Diane Black (TN-6), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-1), Rep. Kevin Cramer (ND), Rep. Raul Labrador (ID-1), Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-3), Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-2), Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4), Rep. Tom Rice (SC-7), Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45), Rep. Bruce Westerman (AR-4), Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6), Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-4), Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-2), Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-9), and Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-9). .Where Can I Get Help With What Medicare Doesn't Cover? .For more information about these and other TSCL-backed bills, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. To follow The Senior Citizens League's work on Capitol Hill, follow us on Twitter. .Vet services are estimated to cost at least 0 per year for dogs, and about 8 per year for cats, while many of us pay much more, even with so-called senior discounts. Diagnostic procedures can cost over ,000, while some surgeries can run in the thousands of dollars. .On Monday, Members of the House and Senate returned to Capitol Hill from the month-long August recess and quickly began working on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government past September 30th. Originally, leaders in both chambers agreed to keep the CR as "clean" as possible in order to avoid a government shutdown like last year's and to allow lawmakers to quickly resume campaign work for the looming November 4th elections.