News

  • 2015 No Cost Of Living Adjustment

    With many seniors spending 30 or more years living in retirement, a COLA that keeps up with rising costs is essential protection for making retirement savings last, and for preventing seniors from falling into poverty. Yet over the past five years, Social Security benefits have grown on average about 1.4% per year — less than half the average rate of growth in previous years. Recent projections by the Congressional Budget Office for 2015 suggest another low COLA of 1.6% next year. .Discussion on the bill will likely continue into the summer, and TSCL will continue to monitor the ongoing debate. We remain hopeful that lawmakers will address any loopholes that would allow immigrants to claim Social Security credits based on work done illegally. In addition, TSCL is concerned that those with provisional status could have access to Social Security and Medicare benefits before they are granted citizenship. Both of these issues would put an unnecessary and unspecified strain on the Trust Funds, and we will continue to inform Members of Congress about potential issues in the coming weeks. .Many observers believe the plan will likely include a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts for Social Security. Some of the most commonly mentioned proposals are: (1) switching to the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate Social Security COLAs; (2) lifting or raising the cap on income which is subject to Social Security taxes; and (3) raising the Social Security retirement age. Switching to the chained CPI alone would both reduce initial benefits and cut lifetime Social Security benefits by more than 10%. … Continued

  • Best Ways To Save March April 2020

    Millicent Graves of Williamsburg, Virginia recently was shocked to discover an astounding price range in the same generic drug after her doctor prescribed a different form of Clobetasol propionate, commonly used to treat psoriasis. When she filled her previous prescription in December of 2014 for the Clobetasol solution, she paid — the full retail cost. But when filling the first prescription for Clobetasol foam in 2015, Graves discovered the retail cost was 5.8And five weeks later when she refilled her prescription for the foam, the cost had jumped dramatically— to 7, making the total difference in price between the solution and foam 1,691%. "When I looked at the receipt I almost passed out," she says. "Everything is the same as the first bottle! It's price gouging," she says. .In a draft of regulations the FDA gave the following example: "if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable juice for use in juice therapy to promote optimal health, that product is a food subject to the requirements for foods … including the hazard analysis and critical control point system requirements for juices. If the juice therapy is intended for use as part of a disease treatment regimen instead of for general wellness, the vegetable juice would also be subject to regulation as a drug under the act." .Recent vaccines targeting more limited populations, such as a meningitis B vaccine for college students and the shingles vaccine for older adults, have a retail cost of 0 to 0 for a full course. … Continued

This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for three important bills that would strengthen the Social Security program if signed into law. .House Republicans Revive AHCA .We are no longer physically able to work, so we're concerned that current Social Security and Medicare benefits and future COLAs will be cut via D.C. shenanigans and slight-of-hand legislation, thus making our financial situation worse. .Hunger and food insecurity is a huge problem in America. Nearly 41 million Americans struggle to put food on the table each day, including five million seniors. Because of their lack of income, many of our seniors are often faced with the frightening decision of whether to purchase food or medicine. .Things aren't likely to improve next year. The Social Security Chief Actuary recently estimated that the COLA in 2017 would be just 0.4 percent, which would be the lowest COLA ever paid. That would raise benefits just .00 per ,000 in benefits. .This week, TSCL announced its support for three new bills: the Social Security Safety Dividend Act (H.R. 67), the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (S. 41, H.R. 242), and the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act (S. 64). .We are covering this study again because according to an article on BenefitsPro.com, "The study is part of a growing body of evidence that cost-sharing, designed to encourage consumers to make smarter choices when shopping for health care, is not achieving that goal. Both anecdotal and statistical data suggest that health care, as it exists today in the U.S, is simply too complicated and opaque for Americans to approach as a simple consumer product." .TSCL offers its supporters an unconditional refund of their most recent donation if they are dissatisfied with our position or performance. .Premium support by itself is no shoo-in for cutting federal spending. In fact, the track record is pretty messy. The costs for Medicare Part D have been lower than originally projected. Competition between Part D drug plans seems to be working, for now, to keep costs down both for the government and for some seniors — particularly those who carefully shop and compare drug plans each year.