News

  • How The Government Measures Inflation Can Mean Bad News For Your Cola

    If signed into law, the Strengthening Social Security Act would amend title II of the Social Security Act to adjust the benefit formula, resulting in a more generous monthly Social Security benefit. It would also change the way that cost-of-living adjustments are calculated by adopting a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. .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. .The new study takes a closer look at the Social Security "hold harmless" provision. Typically, Social Security benefits tend to grow slightly each year as COLAs compound over time. But when the Medicare premium increases more than an individual's COLA that can trigger this special provision of law. Hold harmless protects Social Security benefits when the dollar amount of an individual's annual COLA increase is not sufficient to cover the increase in the Medicare Part B premium increase. If the increase in Medicare Part B premium would cause an individual's net Social Security benefit to be less than it was the year before, then the Part B premium is reduced to ensure the individual's Social Security benefit does not decline. … Continued

  • Legislative Update February 2020

    CBO Releases New Budget Report .On the other hand, Bloomberg News has reported that, "The White House is backing away from a plan to send 0 prescription drug discount cards to American seniors before Election Day after widespread criticism the effort could violate election laws. .Drug spending nationally increased by 76% between 2000 and 2017, and the costs are expected to increase faster than other areas of healthcare over the next decade as new, expensive specialty drugs are approved, according to the researchers. … Continued

Lawmakers will likely pass a short-term bill that will provide funding through Friday, May 5th. The seven-day stopgap measure will buy time for lawmakers to continue working on a larger omnibus spending bill that will fund the government through September 30th – the end of the fiscal year. .The Senate amended and passed the bill 90-2 on March 25, with two Republican Senators voting against it. .In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (TX-3) said: "Although Social Security now has modern hardware and modern data centers, its employees are still using software that is decades out of date. About 30 percent of these legacy systems still use COBOL code, an ancient programming language that isn't even taught in schools anymore." He explained that maintaining the outdated system is costly, it requires extra training for employees, and it is difficult to update when needed. .You might be able to avoid doing so. Coronavirus stimulus legislation (CARES Act) that was signed into law in March waives required minimum distributions (RMDs) in 2020 for anyone who owns a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA. Instead of taking money from your retirement accounts this year, retirees can wait, or take less, to give investments time to recover. That's helpful, because most RMDs are based on the value of your retirement accounts on December 31st of the previous year. .The Medicare portion of spending, officials say, grew 6.2 percent in 2011, after growing just 4.3 percent in 20A major factor holding down costs was the recession. As tens of thousands of working seniors lost jobs, and their healthcare coverage, other seniors were hit by the crash of retirement savings and real estate values. This was followed by two years without any cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2010 or 2011. .When the Great Recession hit eight-plus years ago, the focus was on the double-digit unemployment rates and the devastating impact on recent college and high school graduates. Largely ignored in the discussion were mature workers who were hit equally as hard. .Sources: "Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill," Susan Jaffe, Kaiser Health News, March 23, 2021. .The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated in their September budget outlook that Medicare outlays for 2020 would rise about 12 percent — roughly double the rate forecast by the Medicare Trustees in their April 2020 report. This suggests that the Medicare Part B premium increase for 2021 could be about .40 per month higher in 2021, rising from 4.60 to 2.00. But even this estimate does not include the impact of cost shifting due to protecting people with low Social Security benefits from reductions due to the high Medicare Part B increase. .This year, The Senior Citizens League has heard from supporters like never before about some extreme costs of prescription drugs. One supporter told us she pays ,800 for a three-month supply of insulin as a type 2 diabetic. She said: "I do not have that kind of money! My doctor has been giving me samples to keep me afloat but I cannot expect him to do that forever … I will have to sell my house to pay for insulin."