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  • Ask The Advisor How Would Earnings Under A Stolen Ssn Affect My Benefits

    This year's Trustees Reports show that both programs face modest financial challenges that can be addressed by Congress with minor changes. The Senior Citizens League supports the passage of legislation like the Social Security 2100 Act or the Social Security Expansion Act, both of which would strengthen the Social Security program's finances responsibly, without cutting benefits for current or future retirees. In addition, we hope Congress will pass legislation to bring down prescription drug costs in the Medicare program. Requiring Part D drug price negotiation would save billions of dollars for both the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries. .If signed into law, the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act would repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physician reimbursements, and it would set up a five-year trial period during which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would test and evaluate new payment and delivery models. TSCL strongly believes that the SGR formula breeds uncertainty in the Medicare program for both physicians and beneficiaries. Many doctors have stopped accepting Medicare patients, and many more are threatening to do so if a permanent solution is not established soon. We believe that Rep. Schwartz's bill would bring increased stability to the Medicare program, and we were pleased to see four new cosponsors announce their support for it this week. .The Senior Citizens League encourages older Americans to contact their Senators now to ask for their support in passing this legislation. To learn more, visit . … Continued

  • Congressional Corner Rep Ted Deutch Feed

    In his testimony, Mr. Goss explained that the Social Security DI Trust Fund will be fully solvent until 2032 – four years later than was projected in last year's report. In addition, the OASI Trust Fund will be fully solvent until late 2034 – just a few months earlier than was projected in last year's report. For the combined Trust Funds, the outlook is very similar to last year's and only minor changes will be needed to ensure the program's solvency. .Even though Medicare recipients getting these services may stay in the hospital overnight or longer, getting the same nursing care, lab tests and drugs as they would if inpatients, their bill will be calculated very differently. Patients admitted for in-patient stays usually are responsible for the Medicare hospital deductible of ,484 for a stay of up to 60 days. They may also pay 20% of doctor charges. Many people have Medigap or Medicare Advantage plans that cover much or even all of this expense. Outpatient services, on the other hand, are charged differently, with the patient paying 20% of the Medicare approved amount for each service. In addition, the new billing changes would hit patients with "facility fees" that can run up to several thousand dollars to cover hospital overhead charges. And since, prescription drug plans don't cover medication for hospital patients, beneficiaries would be charged 100% of the full retail cost of drugs they need, even those they normally routinely take at home. .If our forecast proves correct, this would. … Continued

With respect to Ad Servers: The Senior Citizens League does not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt-out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically. .Many seniors are struggling with their vastly diminished retirement accounts following the stock market crash. Additionally, the inventory of unsold houses has now reached record highs and the forecasts for retirees who need to get their cash out of real estate are gloomy indeed. .For progress updates or for more information about these and other bills that would strengthen the Social Security and Medicare programs, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website or follow TSCL on Twitter. .According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), for an age 65 retiree with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25%-two and one half times greater. .With over 1 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Located just outside Washington, D.C., its 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. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. John Garamendi (CA-3) – signed on to the SAVE Benefits Act (H.R. 4012), which was recently introduced in the House by Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-9). If signed into law, the bill would give Social Security beneficiaries a 3.9 percent COLA next year instead of the zero COLA they are expected to receive. It would cover the cost of the emergency COLA and extend the solvency of the Trust Funds by closing a loophole that allows corporations to deduct executive bonuses from their taxes. .TSCL is supportive of both of Rep. DeFazio's bills, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. .To date the government has no comprehensive estimate of the costs of such policies on the Social Security Trust Fund, or the cost of benefits based on illegal work. Nevertheless, Congress is studying a number of changes to Social Security that would cut the benefits of both future and current U.S. senior citizen beneficiaries who worked and paid into Social Security legally. .Members of the committee questioned several witnesses at Thursday's hearing, including Dr. Janet Woodcock (Director at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration), Nancy Retzlaff (Chief Commercial Officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals), and Martin Shkreli (founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals).