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  • S 469 Affordable Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act

    Deferred Action allows immigrants under the age of 33, who entered the country illegally as children, to request consideration of deferred action on deportation. In addition, the program provides temporary work authorization, and valid Social Security numbers. The work permits are good for two years and the Obama Administration recently announced they are taking applications for renewal. .Covid-19, for which there is neither a sure treatment nor vaccine, has created a perfect storm for fraudsters interested in preying on people who are vulnerable, frightened, and isolated. Their scams employ typical tactics of the defrauder's trade: empty promises of protection against a sometimes-fatal disease. .The "house calls" can be money-makers for health plans when they document medical problems like complications from diabetes or heart trouble. Health plans profit because Medicare pays higher rates for sicker patients using a billing formula based on the patient's "risk score." Plans can receive thousands of dollars in higher payments from Medicare even though the insurer incurs no additional costs for covering Medicare services for your brother. … Continued

  • Category Tips For Seniors Page 3

    The U.S. depends on China for thousands of chemicals needed to make prescription drugs. That's because it turns out that pharmaceutical companies have outsourced our generic medicine manufacturing to China. .Food and Drug Administration Issues Vaccine Fraud Alert .When you start retirement benefits before your full retirement age– which for you is 66 — you may work, but Social Security will withhold one dollar in benefits for every in earnings above the limit. The question for many people who go this route is when the withholding starts. … Continued

On Wednesday, Senate Budget Chair Kent Conrad laid out a long-term plan to reduce the deficit. His proposal, called the Fiscal Commission Budget Plan, nearly mirrors the recommendations made in 2010 by President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. According to Sen. Conrad, it would reduce the deficit by .4 trillion over ten years. .Passage of legislation in Congress is more complicated than most people realize. The Constitution allows each chamber of Congress to set its own rules for getting it done. .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. .We were also told that the Congressman is working on further legislation to raise benefits and further extend solvency which he plans on introducing later this year. We will report on that new bill whenever it is introduced. .This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for two key bills that would strengthen the Social Security program. .Benefit reductions due to your age. — Since you were born in 1952, your age for receiving full, unreduced Social Security benefits is 6That holds true for survivors benefits, as well as for your own retirement benefit. So assuming you start benefits in December at age 64, the amount you would receive for starting benefits before your full retirement age will be reduced — almost 10%. (When you start benefits early you get less but you theoretically receive them over a longer period of time.) But that's not the only reduction. .For years, the age at which an individual could receive full, unreduced Social Security benefits was 6Since the passage of the 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act, the age has increased very gradually. The current full retirement age is 66 and it is slowly rising to 67 for people born after 195Benefits can be claimed as early as 62; however, doing so will result in a reduced benefit. For example, if someone was born in 1945 and claimed benefits at 62, their benefits were reduced by 25%. If someone who is born after 1959 collects benefits at 62, their benefits will be reduced by 30%. Some economists have proposed increasing the early retirement age, currently age 62, as well as the full retirement age. .Misconceptions about Medicare coverage are very widespread. New beneficiaries and their families are frequently surprised when they learn what Medicare doesn't cover. Routine eye examinations, eyeglasses and lenses, hearing exams and hearing aids are among the services generally excluded from the core benefits covered by original Medicare. .TSCL is hopeful that lawmakers will successfully repeal and replace the SGR before the looming deadline, since doing so would bring much-needed stability to the Medicare program. We will continue to monitor the negotiations in the coming weeks, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website.