News

  • H R 1517 Social Security And Medicare Lock Box Act

    The third piece of legislation they should pass is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 202It has always been considered to be "must pass" legislation because it authorizes so many things for the military, including pay. But as we reported last week, President Trump has threatened to veto the bill because it doesn't contain a measure that he wants passed having to do with the regulations of social media like Twitter and Facebook. .Sources: "Verifying Eligibility for Certain New Tax Benefits Was A Challenge for the 2010 Filing Season," Treasury Inspector General, September 30, 2010, Ref. No. 2010-41-128 .This week, two new cosponsors signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (S. 567 and H.R. 3118), bringing the total up to three in the Senate and thirty-nine in the House. The new cosponsors are Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) and Mark Pocan (WI-2). If signed into law, the bill would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous benefits; it would adopt the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), resulting in more accurate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. The Strengthening Social Security Act would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. … Continued

  • Benefit Bulletin June 2015

    Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) have languished at exceptionally low levels in recent years. Administration officials and economists point to the sluggish economy and recent economic recession as the reason. But government tinkering with the consumer price index (CPI) is playing an enormous role in reducing the measured rate of inflation, in turn cutting the growth in Social Security benefits. .Senior Medicare Patrol Saved Millions in 2013 .Medicare pays for a wide range of services including many preventive benefits, but routine eye care is not one of them. Medicare-eligible adults with diabetes can, however, get a dilated eye exam to check for diabetic eye disease. The patient's primary care doctor is responsible for determining how often this exam is needed. Medicare also covers an annual eye exam to check for glaucoma if the patient is diabetic or there is a family history of glaucoma. … Continued

If signed into law, the Medicare Advantage Participant Bill of Rights Act would prevent Medicare Advantage plans from dropping physicians from their networks during the middle of the year, and it would require them to finalize their networks sixty days prior to the start of the open enrollment period. .In the past five years the annual adjustment has averaged just 1.4 percent — less than half the 3 percent average of the prior two decades starting in 1990. Retirees and disabled Social Security recipients are reporting that the COLA is doing a poor job of what it's intended to do — protecting the buying power of their Social Security benefits. According to an annual survey performed by TSCL, Social Security benefits have lost 31 percent of their buying power since 2000. .The CBO recently evaluated a number of different policy options for changing Social Security, noting three broad approaches that have received considerable attention, including: .TSCL believes that these two provisions unfairly reduce the earned benefits of millions of seniors each year. We were pleased to see support grow for the Social Security Fairness Act this week. .House Adjourns for Five-Week Summer Recess .This is a new issue that has popped up on our radar and TSCL will be studying it in greater depth as we learn what might be done to insure lower prices and greater security for the prescription drugs that are so important for so many of us, especially the nations senior citizen population. .Doc Fix for Medicare Providers – Establish a permanent solution in order to bring greater stability to doctor reimbursements, ensuring continued access. .This week, lawmakers in the House adjourned for a week-long recess, while those in the Senate heard from Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was recently nominated by President Obama to serve as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Meanwhile, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw . .The Senior Citizens League believes it is time to focus on the adequacy of Social Security benefits to meet rising Medicare costs. COLAs have been insufficient to cover the Part B premium in five out of the past ten years — 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, and 201This is a clear indication that Social Security COLA is not adequate, and not doing the job it was intended to do. .