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    The COLA will be announced on October 19th, and Medicare premiums and deductibles also will be announced in the fall. Seniors who are already retired and those nearing retirement have few options if the benefits they rely on today were to be cut. TSCL is fighting such proposals affecting the benefits of current retirees, believing that seniors need a COLA that more adequately protects the buying power of Social Security, and TSCL supports H.R. 776, the Guaranteed 3% COLA Act, introduced by Representative Eliot Engel (NY-17). .When Should Single People Move to Assisted Living? .Here's a closer look at the Medicare proposals: … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending March 29 2019

    Two years ago, President Obama bypassed Congress to halt the deportations of almost 5 million unauthorized immigrants. The Supreme Court recently tied on a ruling that allowed a lower court's ruling to stand, barring Obama's executive action. Do you believe President Obama overstepped his constitutional limits? .In addition to ensuring that we insulate seniors from fraud, we must support older Americans seeking to remain an active part of the workforce. Earlier this year, I worked with Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) to introduce the Empowering Encore Entrepreneurs Act to create job opportunities for seniors who have not yet reached retirement but possess years of business experience. My bipartisan bill will expand successful collaborative efforts between AARP and the Small Business Administration that offer mentoring and training to people over age 50 seeking to expand or start a small business. Older workers, once unemployed, are more likely than others to remain unemployed, which is why we need to revitalize our economy by supporting those who found themselves out of a job before retirement. .The SSA and the AARP say, however, the Notch affects only those born during the five-year period of 1917 through 192Those born during that period were covered by a special transitional benefit formula, the purpose of which was to provide a 5-year phase-in for the new 1977 benefit formula. … Continued

Proponents say that the change is needed because the CPI is inaccurate and doesn't reflect the effect on inflation when consumers substitute different types of lower-costing goods and services as prices increase. They argue that the government overpays Social Security beneficiaries because the current index is inaccurate and overstates inflation. .Normally it would seem logical that a bi-partisan bill would have a very good chance of passing in the Senate, but these are not normal times. In fact, four of the five Republican Senators whose offices we visited this week, and who are on the Finance Committee, voted against their own chairman's bill. The five Senate offices we met with were Scott (SC), Thune (SD), Toomey (PA), Alexander (TN), and Burr (NC). We picked these Senators because all are members of at least one of the committees that any bill to lower drug costs would have to go through. .In February of 2018, Congress took action and included a permanent repeal of the Medicare therapy cap in a two-year budget deal. The Senior Citizens League is proud to have endorsed the repeal of the therapy cap from the time such a repeal was proposed legislation in the Congress. .The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing to discuss the problems facing seniors and the vital roll Social Security plays in the well-being of America's seniors. .To receive benefits on your ex-spouse's record, you must be unmarried, and your ex-spouse must be entitled to a Social Security retirement or disability benefit. But don't try to take it sooner than age 66, or you will lock in a permanent reduction for your own retirement benefit, even if you take it later. .Now, the Associated Press has reported that one administration official has said the odds are 75-25 that the program will not happen at all. .I'm grateful for TSCL's work as guards and advocates to help us keep up with all that affects what we have to rely on. I've often used the information from this website to contact my Congress members and the President to let them know where we stand on issues, and that as retirees, we are the largest and most consistent voting bloc that crosses all party lines. — Mr. & Mrs. Lance Colvin, WA .Because Medicare doesn't negotiate drug prices, there are huge variations in cost for the same drug between drug plans, and even between pharmacies in the same plan. The difference in drug prices between the lowest and highest costing plans and pharmacies can be in the hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. The high cost of drugs are the single biggest reason that people don't fill a prescription! But the most frequent reason that a drug costs so much more in the highest costing plan is lack of coverage by the drug plan —the drug is not listed on the plan's formulary. Sometimes, the pharmacy is not in the plan's preferred "network", and even preferred pharmacies can have significantly higher costs. For example, the lowest cost plan for Sovaldi, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C, charges ,600 in co-insurance (for a one-year treatment). The highest cost drug plan charges 0,800, the full cost of the drug, because Sovaldi is not on the plan formulary. The lowest cost plan for Advair Diskus, which is used to control and prevent symptoms of pulmonary disease, charges a co-pay of .33 per month from a mail order pharmacy, or the highest cost plan charges 6.62 per month because the drug is not on the plan's formulary. .Now more than ever, we must fight to ensure that when older Americans retire they can look forward to a stable economic future and reliable, high-quality healthcare. During the devastating economic recession, older Americans saw their hard-earned savings dwindle, lost millions in diminished pension funds, and were laid off just a few years before retirement. Now, Congress must work past partisan gridlock to support seniors. During my time in Congress, I've fought for seniors by reaching across the aisle to protect landmark programs like Medicare and Social Security and introduced commonsense legislation that will strengthen the financial security of older Americans.