News

  • John Adams Vice Chairman

    According to a survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), 70% of older Americans think Social Security's solvency should be improved by scrapping the Social Security taxable wage limit of 8,500. .This year's study found a 3 percentage point gain in the buying power of Social Security benefits from January 2019 to January 2020. That should indicate that most retirees may have seen at least some prices go down on certain items during that period. But this is deflation — which is a strong signal that there may be no COLA next year. This year's 1.6 percent COLA was already low to begin with. A recent deep plunge in oil prices have all but wiped out the prospect of a COLA. .But a COVID-19 vaccine will have an actual price tag. And given the prevailing business-centric model of American drug pricing, it could well be budget breaking, perhaps making it unavailable to many. … Continued

  • Legislative Update February 2014

    "For those who don't like these executive actions, there's time to get to the table and back a legislative solution," Grassley said in a statement. "I will continue the fight in Congress until significant prescription drug pricing legislation becomes law. The next coronavirus relief bill presents the perfect opportunity for Congress to meet the moment." .For the last few weeks we have reported on President Trump's executive order to allow employers to defer payroll taxes owed by workers, which funds Social Security and Medicare. TSCL is opposed to payroll tax cuts of any kind because they seriously jeopardize the financial viability of both programs. .TSCL believes much more stringent measures are needed to protect Social Security and SSI programs from document fraud. TSCL supports legislation that would ban the use of unauthorized earnings for determining entitlement to Social Security benefits. In addition, TSCL supports stronger penalties for the use of fraudulent documents for obtaining federal benefits, including SSI. … Continued

A study conducted by TSCL has found that Social Security benefits have lost 30 percent of buying power since 2000 over the same period that Medicare Part B premiums grew by 195 percent. Social Security benefits on the other hand have grown by only 43 percent. The findings represent an especially big loss in buying power of 7 percent from January of 2016 to January of 2017. .Social Security Subcommittee Discusses Program's Future .Sources: "Medicare Beneficiaries Sue US Over Hospital Stays," David Morgan, Reuters, November 3, 2011. .That is why TSCL is fighting so hard for legislation to reduce drug prices and for increased COLAs that reflect the true cost of living for our nation's seniors. ., Editor .Support Grows for Social Security Fairness Act .Sen. Tom Harkin (IA) introduced S. 567 on March 14, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Finance. .As your mom moves through stages of Alzheimer's, she will need more care over time. The medicines used to treat Alzheimer's only control symptoms, such as memory loss and confusion, but cannot cure the disease. The symptoms inevitably will get worse and because of this, eventually your mom will need more help than you can supply at home. .While inflation varies significantly depending on the area of the country in which people live, locality - based payment rates are not calculated on living costs or specific price levels like the COLA. According to a story appearing on the Federal News Network's website, this is a common misconception about locality pay. In fact, consumer inflation is not even a factor when setting locality pay.