News
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Legislative Update For Week Ending November 15 2013
To participate in TSCL's monthly polls, visit our home page. .Sources: Impact of Alien Nonpayment Provisions on Field Offices Along the Mexican Border, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, February 2011 A-08-10-20140. Impact of Unauthorized Employment on Social Security Benefits, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, December 2006, A-14-05-14042. ."Switching to a more slowly growing CPI is not the only change affecting seniors that deficit negotiators are looking at," notes Hyland. "Members of Congress from both parties are already considering changes that would make seniors pay a bigger share of their Medicare, and reducing government Medicaid payments at the same time," he adds. … Continued
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How Seniors Would Fix Social Security Medicare Results From Tscls 2014 Senior Survey
Create a family documentary. Create a family scrap-book with old photos and memorabilia. If you have access to a computer and scanner or a friend with one, scan old photos for a digital family scrapbook you can share online. If a family member is good with making videos, consider doing a mini-documentary. Think of the questions you have about your ancestors and ask yourself the same. Like how you and your spouse met, how your family coped during a particularly hard time, or document a skill or craft that you love. This is also a good way to teach cooking your favorite family foods! Upload the video to YouTube to share with your family and send a link in a holiday email. .The CBO estimates that replacing Medicare with a premium support system would save the federal government as much as 5 billion over ten years.[3] The CBO also estimates that premiums paid by affected beneficiaries, however, would be about 30 percent higher on average by 2020 than the current projected Part B premium. In addition, the CBO said that shifting seniors to private plans would affect access to providers, a problem that many seniors are experiencing with Medicare Advantage plans now. .TSCL is a strong supporter of H.R. 973, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week. … Continued
However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you do not have symptoms. .With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors' groups. Its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. Visit for more information. .Here's an example of how it might work: Let's say your husband was entitled to a benefit of ,400 or ,450 per month. Since he was at his full retirement age there are no reductions. You learn that your full retirement age benefit at age 66 would be about ,195, and by age 70 it grows to about ,640. In this case taking a reduced widow's benefit now and letting your own benefit grow due to the delayed retirement credit may potentially work as long as your earnings don't completely offset your benefits. .We at TSCL believe this is something that should have been done years ago. .The Social Security Trustees further estimate that .9 billion in revenues in 2020 would come from the taxation of Social Security benefits. "Yet those revenues are also likely to be lower, impacted by both large numbers of older Americans who lost income from jobs, as well as from lower distributions from retirement accounts that have lost value from last year," Johnson notes. Under the CARES Act, retirees are allowed to completely waive required minimum distributions for 2020 from retirement accounts. .Although it hasn't been introduced as legislation yet, some specifics were outlined in a fact sheet released by the group. Under the plan, the government would pay for three-quarters of the cost of the average plan, and for the most expensive enrollees, it would pay ninety percent of the cost. Wealthy seniors would pay a larger share of the cost, and low-income seniors would receive assistance from Medicaid. In addition, the age of eligibility would increase by three months each year, until it hits seventy in 2034. .Clobetasol propionate is one of four medications that accounted for the most significant generic price increases in 2014 according to information on the website of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts. The steep climb in generic drugs prompted a Senate hearing last year. The prices of more than 1,200 generic medications increased an average of 448 percent between July 2013 and July 2014, according to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. .This week, the Ways and Means Committee advanced a bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw one key bills gain support. .Congress managed to pass a short-term fix to prevent a 19% benefit cut that was due to hit disabled Social Security beneficiaries by the end of this year. The legislation heads off the cut by temporarily transferring some payroll tax revenues over the next three years, expanding measures to better ensure medical eligibility for benefits, and by preventing improper payments due to fraudulent work. The stronger eligibility and anti-fraud provisions are strongly supported by TSCL, incorporating several recommendations that TSCL presented last fall to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. The legislation:
