News

  • Legislative Update November 2010 Advisor Feed

    The new low comes as COLAs have flat-lined over the past seven years, averaging just 1.2% — less than half the 3% average over the two decades prior to 20The long-term financial impact on anticipated retirement benefits is significant and growing, says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton. "People lose the effect of compounding when benefit raises are at these extreme lows," she explains. "That reduces the Social Security income that retirees may have been counting on over their retirement." .Locate the booklet of information about your drug plan for 2020. Your drug plan is required to send you "Evidence of Coverage" for 2020, a booklet that outlines your plan's coverage for your prescription drugs, and what you pay in general. If you don't have that information from your drug plan, or if you don't see answers to your specific questions, you can call the customer service representative of your drug plan directly, or you may find information about your drug plan online by searching drug plans at www.Medicare.gov. .TSCL's members and supporters tend to be older, less affluent seniors. They are also, to a large extent, Notch victims — those individuals who receive lower Social Security benefits because they were born between the years 1917 and 1926. … Continued

  • John Adams Vice Chairman

    On Tuesday – three months later – a panel of three judges rejected the Obama administration's request in a 2-1 decision. They ruled that the state of Texas does have the legal standing to challenge President Obama's executive orders since implementing them will be costly to the state. .This week, TSCL endorsed new legislation from Congressman John Duncan, Jr. (TN-2) that would result in a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA. The bipartisan bill, called the Consumer Price Index (CPI) For Seniors Act (H.R. 2016), would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics to create and publish a new inflation index based solely on the spending patterns of senior citizens. .The majority of seniors aged 65 who get Social Security depend on it for at least 50 percent of their income. Average benefits today only total about ,200 a year. … Continued

Despite tightening the law, Congress did not fix a policy loophole that would be inadvertently triggered with the passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation. When determining entitlement for insured status, and when calculating the initial retirement benefit, the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses all reported earnings from covered employment in the United States, even if the earnings were from illegal or "unauthorized" work. (2) .Hunger and food insecurity is a huge problem in America. Nearly 41 million Americans struggle to put food on the table each day, including five million seniors. Because of their lack of income, many of our seniors are often faced with the frightening decision of whether to purchase food or medicine. .Big Effort to Lower Drug Prices Once Again in Congress .How Does TSCL Project the Social Security COLA? .Upon introducing the bill, Rep. Negrete McLeod said: "For seniors living on a fixed income, this could greatly impact their quality of life … We must protect seniors and ensure those who are most vulnerable do not face greater economic insecurity due to rising medical expenses." By preventing the threshold hike from occurring, her bill would save the average senior nearly 0 a year in qualifying tax deductions. TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 4104, and we look forward to working with Rep. Negrete McLeod in the coming months to help build support for it. In the meantime, we encourage our members and supporters to contact their representatives to request their support for it. To find contact information for your elected officials, click HERE. .For this week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts to continue the month-long August recess. .Proponents of the measure, which include some Democrats, say that addressing the projected shortfalls now would prevent draconian cuts or tax hikes later. The legislation would create congressional panels mandated to draft bipartisan legislation that restores solvency of the trust funds, and the bills would receive fast-track consideration in each chamber. .The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on nursing homes, leading to large numbers of residents and staff becoming become ill or dying. We hope that such catastrophes may help focus attention on long-term problems that plague these facilities. .At a recent hearing from the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, experts in the MA field warned that their plans will not be able to absorb the looming cuts, and they will likely have to trim benefits or increase out-of-pocket costs as they are phased in over the next decade. One witness, Chris Wing – the CEO of SCAN Health Plans – said his MA plan that covers nearly 200,000 seniors in California and Arizona will have to begin limiting provider networks or withdraw from a few markets altogether.