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  • Category Issues Social Security Reform Bills Feed

    This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts to continue the summer recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 4th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following five... .Enrolled in Medicare Advantage? ,700 in Benefit Cuts by 2017 Predicted .TSCL agrees with Congressman Carter and Ranking Member Cummings, and we believe Congress must act before the end of this year to prevent price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry. We enthusiastically support the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, and we will advocate for it tirelessly in the months ahead. For updates on the bill's progress, visit the Legislative News section of our website, or follow us on Twitter. … Continued

  • Ask Advisor May June 2018

    In particular, the expert witnesses at last week's hearing focused on isolation from the community, Medicare penalties for late enrollment, and a lack of funding for State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), which help older Americans navigate Medicare enrollment. .That report estimates the Social Security trust fund could be depleted by 2030, five years earlier than the official government estimate, because of the recession and long-term near-zero interest rates triggered by the pandemic. .Access to work authorization is a key issue for Social Security. With work authorization, non-citizen workers can become eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Under current law workers become fully eligible for Social Security benefits after ten years of work. A new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that an estimated 6.4 million illegals have been living in this country for at least 10 years and thus potentially would be in line for Social Security and Medicare should they receive work authorization. … Continued

Surveys have found that public opposition to cutting benefits is widespread, but there is support for changes that would make Social Security payroll taxes more equitable. According to TSCL's 2017 Senior Survey, 73% of survey participants support abolishing the taxable maximum cap and to apply the full 12.4% payroll tax to all earnings. .Last week Rep. Tim Walburg (R- Mich.) introduced a bill, H.R.2266, that would amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for a minimum annual cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits. .TSCL is a strong supporter of H.R. 973, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week. ." ‘If it comes to getting my family members vaccinated, and all that's available is J&J or Novavax, I'd tell them to take it,' said Robert Hancock, president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians." .Legislators cannot effectively operate on their own without the input of those who elected them. After all, the Constitution guarantees "the right of the people to petition the government for redress of grievance," acknowledging that calling upon our elected representatives is a fundamental principle of our democracy. TSCL's grassroots petition campaign highlighted this freedom and successfully grabbed not just the ears, but the eyes and attention of Congress toward the concerns of millions of seniors nationwide. .To put the problem of Medicare's cost growth into perspective, the following table illustrates what common food items would cost in 2014, if they had increased as rapidly as Medicare Part B premiums. To give a fuller picture, this table spans a 3year period, the length many Baby Boomers can expect to live in retirement. Medicare Part B premiums are twelve times higher today than 34 years ago in 1980. .Social Security Loss of Buying Power report including study methodology available for download. Loss of Buying Power Report. .Sources: "Homeowners Insurance Buying Guide," Consumer Reports, January 201"15 Surprising Consumer Actions & Beliefs Related To Homeowner's Insurance," PropertyCasualty360.com, March 28, 2017. .Although no other generation has yet been affected by a similar Notch, that could change in the future. Congressional inaction on Social Security's long-term financing problems could give birth to a whole new generation of Notch Babies. During recent hearings on the need for making Social Security more sustainable as Baby Boomers near retirement, David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States, confirmed this saying "Doing nothing means that we are going to head to a precipitous decline in benefits. Remember the Notch Baby problem?" he asked. "This would be a Notch Baby problem magnified multiple times and it should not be allowed to happen." (10)