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  • Flo Was Wrong I Do Want Big Government In My Medicine Cabinet

    Last - don't let all the political spin about Social Security scare you. The program is not going broke. Social Security does face a long-term financial challenge. Even when the Social Security Trust Fund becomes exhausted there would still be sufficient assets from payroll taxes to pay about 75 percent of promised benefits. Although that isn't a fair or acceptable outcome — a far more likely one — Congress will take action to correct the imbalance. .While not all generics work the same or as well as brand name drugs, they do work much or most of the time and the savings would be enormous. .(Washington, DC) – Older Americans are not to blame for an exploding federal budget deficit warns The Senior Citizens League. "Congress can't cut taxes by an estimated .7 trillion and then turn around and blame rising deficits on ‘entitlements' and aging," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending November 3 2017

    The savings compound over time and are huge. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that chaining the CPI would cut COLAs by 2 billion from 2012021 alone and, if used in other federal retirement programs and for indexing taxes, would reduce deficits by about 0 billion over the next decade. .Resource: Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults, Sara Zeff Geber, PhD .The Senior Citizens League can be reached via e-mail at comments@ or you can reach us by telephone at 800-333-TSCL (8725). Our mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League consists of vocally active senior citizens concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. … Continued

This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts to continue the fall congressional recess. .The other big variable in health care is insuring against the risk of a big tab for long-term care. This is an area where we just don't have very good options right now. The market for private long-term care insurance doesn't function very well -- the cost of coverage has been soaring, and the number of insurance companies in the market has been shrinking. Medicaid is the country's biggest payer for nursing home bills, but you need to spend down to poverty levels to qualify and most often your care choices are limited. The other options are "self-insuring" paying out of pocket if you're very affluent, or if like many older senior Americans, you rely on family members for help. .About 30 percent of the "other than legal " immigrants who were living in the U.S., and age 62 in 2000, would be eligible to receive retiree benefits. .In addition to delivering petitions to Congressional offices, TSCL's Board of Trustees and legislative team – which is led by former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk – have met personally with more than fifty lawmakers and their top aides. Some highlights include meeting with the following Members of Congress: Rep. Eliot Engel (NY-16), sponsor of the Guaranteed 3% COLA Act (H.R. 1585); Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-4), sponsor of the CPI-E Act (H.R. 1030); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Co-Chair of the Seniors Task Force; Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC-7), sponsor of the Notch Fairness Act (H.R. 155); and Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), member of the Senate's "Gang of Eight" and sponsor of comprehensive immigration reform legislation. .Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-4) introduced H.R. 1170 on February 13, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. .I retired seven years ago at age 65 when I started Social Security and Medicare. I have difficulty budgeting my healthcare costs. I never seem to learn what they will be until I start getting the bills. Can you help? .The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports H.R. 2276, H.R. 4957, S. 2387, and S. 2671, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information about these and other TSCL-backed bills, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .This week, TSCL's legislative team, which is led by former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, met with several Members of Congress and their top staff to discuss issues of critical importance to seniors. The following bills, among others, were discussed this week: the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), the CPI for Seniors Act (H.R. 2154), the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1795), the Notch Fairness Act (H.R. 155), the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act (H.R. 2745), and the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (H.R. 574). .The main purpose for the Senate's return was to work on confirming to office many of the appointments of the Trump administration. These include leaders of many government departments as well as judicial appointments.