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  • Category Legislative News Page 30

    The move is a long time coming. Legislation passed in 1996 made illegal immigrants ineligible to receive federal benefits. But according to an audit performed by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 29,185 illegal immigrants had improperly received Medicare benefits from 2009 through 201A review of 133,541 claims revealed that Medicare had paid more than .6 million in claims on behalf of 2,575 unlawfully present individuals. .Economists are saying that cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) overpay seniors and that recipients don't need so much money to maintain their standard of living. Cuts to annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) are a key provision of the deficit reduction plans on Capitol Hill, and TSCL is fighting the plans that would cut the benefits of more than 60 million beneficiaries. .In a letter of support, Art Cooper – Chairman of The Senior Citizens League's Board of Trustees – wrote: "The Senior Citizens League's supporters – most of whom are enrolled in the Social Security program – question why Congress has not yet acted to address the funding challenges of the Social Security Administration in order to ensure the service that beneficiaries have earned and deserve … As such, The Senior Citizens League salutes you for introducing the Social Security Administration Fairness Act." … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending June 10 2016

    Key Social Security Bills Gain Support .Recently I got a notice that my bank account was overdrawn. When I checked with the bank, my Social Security direct deposit was never received. I called the local Social Security office and learned that a request in my name was made to switch from my direct deposit account to a prepaid debit card. I never authorized this. How safe are the direct deposits and what can I do to get my money back? .As a proud affiliate of TREThe Enlisted Association, and because many of TSCL supporters are military retirees we keep a close eye on the health benefits of military retirees. … Continued

In 2016, under the Supplemental Poverty Measure 14.5% of adults age 65 and older lived in poverty, compared to 9.3% under the official poverty measure. .This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the two-week spring recess. Both chambers are scheduled to be back in session by Tuesday, April 25th. .So, before these invaluable vaccines hit the market, we should talk about an actual price. Otherwise, we will be stuck paying dearly for shots that the rest of the world will get for much less. .Why Does My Doctor's Office Need to Call My Insurer Before Scheduling a CT Scan? .At the same time, new claims for Social Security benefits are growing, as many older workers who have lost jobs file for Social Security benefits earlier than planned. The combined impact increases pressure on Social Security to address solvency issues. A future solvency option supported by more than 72 percent of The Senior Citizens League's survey participants is to apply the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings, instead of just the first 7,700 in wages. The survey was conducted from mid - January through April of this year. .The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) has concerns about a number of elements outlined in the revised Simpson-Bowles plan – namely the adoption of the "chained" CPI, since seniors are already being short changed by the COLAs they receive. The plan released this week is not likely to be adopted in its entirety, but it will serve as an important comparative tool in the coming weeks as leaders in Washington continue to search for sequester alternatives. The automatic cuts are scheduled to hit on Friday, March 1st, but leaders have said they believe the deadline is flexible and their best chance at redesigning it might come at the end of the month, when the continuing resolution to fund the government expires. Until then, TSCL will continue to monitor the negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .If the threshold is raised, many seniors who have saved for their entire lives and have carefully planned for retirement will suddenly be faced with hundreds of dollars in extra taxes—on top of the out-of-pocket medical costs they already pay. That's simply unacceptable. ."Let's have some discussion about what the government would actually be measuring," Johnson says. "It would not be direct measurement of the growth in the costs of specific goods and services as is the case under the conventional CPI," she says. "Yet that's what most people think of when we talk about inflation," she says. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the chained CPI measures the amount of additional resources that an individual would need to maintain the same standard of living this year as last year. "That's not the same thing, especially for people dependent on fixed incomes," Johnson notes. .The Notch is closely connected to problems that arose the last time Congress overhauled the Social Security benefit formula in 197A transitional benefit formula was provided to phase in the changes, and protect those closest to retirement from abrupt benefit reductions. The transitional formula was flawed however, and failed to provide the promised protection.