News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending April 21 2017

    New legislation before the House and Senate would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) so that public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. Will you cosponsor the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 521, H.R. 141) when you return to Washington on Monday? .TSCL enthusiastically supports the five bills listed above and we were pleased to see support grow for them on Capitol Hill this week. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. To thank your representative for becoming a cosponsor or to request their support for legislation, visit our "Contact Congress" page. .A seventeen-member conference committee comprised of Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate is currently working towards a long-term bipartisan deal to keep the federal government operating. Should they fail to reach a compromise before the looming deadline, it will shut down once again. … Continued

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending October 16 2015

    Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) have languished at exceptionally low levels in recent years. Administration officials and economists point to the sluggish economy and recent economic recession as the reason. But government tinkering with the consumer price index (CPI) is playing an enormous role in reducing the measured rate of inflation, in turn cutting the growth in Social Security benefits. .Lawmakers Adjourn for Recess .Third, TSCL was pleased that Congress passed legislation last fall to stave off a 52 percent hike in Medicare Part B premiums for around 15 million beneficiaries. Back in October, our legislative team hand delivered letters to every office on Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to prevent the abrupt and dramatic premium increase. We were pleased when legislation was signed into law later that month to provide relief for the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who would have otherwise seen massive cost increases in January. … Continued

These attacks on the safety and security of seniors in our communities are unacceptable but, unfortunately, they aren't new. Before the pandemic, scams targeting the elders in our community were already on the rise. At a town hall I held in Los Angeles in early 2018, I heard multiple stories from relatives of seniors in our community who had been targeted by scams. .The next twelve months is one of the most critical periods for the nation's seniors and disabled who receive Social Security and Medicare. The failure of a special Joint Committee of Congress known as the "super committee," means automatic budget cuts totaling billions of dollars that are scheduled to kick in by 2013 unless Congress enacts different plans. Although Social Security and Medicaid appear to have escaped the knife for now, billions in Medicare spending would be cut from payments to hospitals and other providers. .The good news is that reducing drug costs appears to have bipartisan support. Two critical congressional committees – the Senate Finance Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee – have launched investigations into the pricing practices of the pharmaceutical industry. .Dental Coverage Under Medicare .Sources: "Preliminary Estimate of the Budgetary Effects of Using the Chained CPI Starting in 2014," Congressional Budget Office, March 1, 2013. .(Washington, DC) – About 56 percent of all Social Security households pay taxes on a portion of their Social Security benefits, according to a national survey by The Senior Citizens League. "Recently enacted changes in the tax law will increase both the numbers of taxpayers whose Social Security benefits are taxable and the portion of Social Security income that people will pay in taxes," says The Senior Citizens League's Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson. .What is the purpose of this test? —Is the test being ordered for a possible (asymptomatic) disorder when you have no symptoms or clear sign of disease? Or, is it needed to confirm a suspected diagnosis? ."Unfortunately for seniors and their families these extreme differences in cost are not unique," says Johnson. "Almost every Medicare beneficiary enrolled in a Part D drug or Medicare health plan can achieve savings if they carefully compare all their options every year and switch when they find better coverage," Johnson says. "All that's required is computer access, the Medicare Drug and Health Plan Compare tools on the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov and determination to give it a try," she notes. .Can your husband do the work he did previously? If he can, your husband would not qualify.