News

  • The Medicare Tax That Never Made It To The Medicare Trust Fund

    Eighty percent of the nation's active pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas — and China is its No. 2 supplier, behind only Canada. .Social Security Notch Reform – Work towards benefit equality for Notch victims. .With a majority of seniors today depending on Social Security for at least half of their income over a 20 to 30 years retirement, TSCL opposes proposals that would cut the benefits of current retirees and those nearing retirement. We are continuing to monitor this proposal and waiting to see what legislation may develop. While TSCL believes that changes are needed to ensure that Social Security continues pay scheduled benefits, changes must be kept as small as possible, and phased in over as long a period as possible to allow for future retirees to learn about and adjust their plans. … Continued

  • 2020 Senior Survey

    To learn more about the problems of disability listen to the NPR story "Unfit for Work" The startling rise of disability in America. .Third, the bipartisan CHANGE Act (H.R. 4957) gained one new cosponsor in Representative Ted Lieu (CA-33), bringing the total up to twenty-two. If adopted, the CHANGE Act would promote early identification of Alzheimer's disease, improve support for family caregivers, and provide continuous care for those battling many forms of dementia. .TSCL supports allowing any veteran to get the Covid vaccine at the VA and we will keep an eye on the progress of this effort. … Continued

With only six weeks to go before the December 13th deadline, it remains to be seen which path the budget conference will take. Leaders of the conference announced on Wednesday that the next public meeting will be held on November 13th, but most of the work will likely occur behind closed doors in the coming weeks. Regardless, TSCL will continue to monitor the evolving budget negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .The study examined the increase in costs of 32 key items between 2000 and January 201The items were chosen because they are typical of the costs seniors must bear. Of the 32 costs analyzed, 20 exceeded the total percentage of increase in the COLA over the same period. .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). .For more information about the Social Security Administration Fairness Act, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. For updates on the administration's progress, follow The Senior Citizens League on Twitter. .The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security .My Mom Is Applying For Assisted Living: Why Must She Agree To Mandatory Arbitration? .With the Medicare physician payment "doc fix" scheduled to cease at the end of February, lawmakers remain divided on where the funding will come from to extend the current level of payments to doctors. If the current "doc fix" expires, physicians' reimbursements will be reduced by a 27 percent rate. .2014 Annual Survey of Senior Costs, Mary Johnson, The Senior Citizens League, March 2014. .Stories About High Drug Costs Lead To Congressional Investigation of Pharmaceutical Pricing