News

  • 2012 How Undocumented Workers Are Becoming Entitled To Social Security

    Many social and economic factors work against women who are family caregivers and mothers that can lower their Social Security benefits. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) believes that lawmakers can and should be doing more to improve this. .Congress should change the law to apply the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings, instead of the first 2,800 of earnings, to strengthen program funding. — 72 percent support, 19 percent opposed, and 9 percent favored other types of revenue increases. .Notification dates: Because you started working and received about 6 months of Social Security payments prior to your notification of Social Security, these payments may not have been properly accounted for in your withholdings and may form a substantial portion of the overpayment. It's very important to notify Social Security, either in advance or immediately, if you work. … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending November 6 2015

    I'm helping my brother who has cognitive problems. He's enrolled in a Humana Medicare Advantage plan that covers prescription drugs in addition to providing hospital and doctor benefits. The plan seems OK, but I'm annoyed by numerous (often weekly) phone calls from the plan asking for permission to send out a visiting nurse. They say the visit is provided at no charge to get his blood pressure, and a physical. That sounds good, but my brother doesn't want strangers coming to his home, and I'm getting suspicious. Is this request legitimate? .TSCL supports legislation that would lift or eliminate the Social Security taxable maximum. Such a change is estimated by Social Security Trustees to eliminate 67% of Social Security's long-term shortfall over 75 years while improving retirement security. .A growing volume of research is linking problems with eyes, ears, and teeth to health problems elsewhere in the body. Links have been found to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, respiratory illness, cancer, sleep apnea, dementia, and many other serious health conditions. Better care has been found to improve overall health in patients. Mary Johnson – a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League – said this week, "Adding coverage may help both patients and Medicare save money on other costs." … Continued

Under current law, the Medicare program is prohibited from negotiating prices with pharmaceutical companies despite the fact that other federal health programs are required to do so. As a result, older Americans enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices than other American consumers for their prescription drugs. If adopted, this bill would lead to billions of dollars in savings for the Medicare program, and it would immediately reduce prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. .Defeating Alzheimer's requires uniting Americans nationwide in conjunction with local government, healthcare experts, and outside organizations like the Alzheimer's Association. We are all in this fight together, and ending this disease will take time and a common focus on the task at hand. That's why we must continue to raise awareness of Alzheimer's and the promising efforts taking place to curb its growth, as well as increase support for patients and their caregivers. While the challenge of battling Alzheimer's is immense, the outpouring of support and dedicated activism for this crucial cause gives me hope that we can one day effectively treat—and eventually cure—this devastating disease. .The crackdown was unique not only for its scale, but also. No Lie! Affordable Care Act Not So Affordable .While many seniors rely on Social Security for nearly all their retirement income, for others it is part but not all their retirement. Those seniors have investments they rely on to generate the income they need in their retirement years. ."Opting out" of a former employer's coverage on occasion might be able to save you money, but it requires careful cost comparisons and sound guidance. Never make any change without first getting the unbiased advice from a trained Medicare benefits counselor. The service is provided free of charge through your State Health Insurance Program and is available at many local Agencies on Aging. Check your local yellow pages. .Over the past 8 years COLAs have been at record lows, averaging just 1.1 percent. During three of those years there was no COLA at all, and in 2017, the COLA was just 0.3 percent. But inflation, especially for the goods and services used by older Americans, has continued to grow more quickly than annual COLAs. .What does this new "pay for performance" mean for patients? Not much is known yet, but I got a first - hand experience of the new system recently. One of my doctors, a specialist, told me that due to a "quality initiative reorganization," he wouldn't be seeing me as a patient anymore. I'll have to find a new doctor. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill and those in the House passed legislation that will reduce prescription drug costs at pharmacies. In addition, the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee met to discuss information technology within the Social Security program, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw two key bills gain support. .A new fraud scheme designed to target seniors appears almost daily. In many cases, seniors have watched their entire life savings disappear in scams that are specifically designed to target their assets.