News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending March 28 2014

    Many in Congress have been outspoken about the potential cuts. Last week, a bipartisan group of forty Senators sent a letter to CMS urging administrators to maintain current payment rates in order to protect seniors from potential benefit disruptions. TSCL has also been expressing its concerns to lawmakers, and we will continue to keep a close eye on the issue in the coming weeks. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website. .We need to throw out the stereotype we've had that when you're 65 you quit working and head to the golf course. In the wake of the Great Recession, it doesn't really work financially for most folks. Even though my book has the word "retirement" in the title, about one-third of the chapters deal with careers and work at midlife and beyond -- tips for finding jobs, starting an entrepreneurial venture or launching an encore career focused on social contribution. .Since enactment 84 years ago, Social Security has been the most reliable source of retirement income that most retirees have. That said, our current Social Security program has a funding imbalance that's creeping forward. In 2018 the Congressional Budget Office reported that Social Security's total benefit costs exceeded its total income, including (for the first time) the "interest" income on the special obligations bonds, or I.O.U.s that are held by the trust fund. According to the Social Security Trustees, from here forward, Social Security benefits will be financed with a combination of payroll taxes, revenues from the taxation of Social Security income, "interest" income from the special obligation bonds, and net redemptions of those bonds, until the reserves held from the Trust Funds are depleted. … Continued

  • Category Issues Medicare Part D Faqs Page 5

    According to TSCL estimates, benefits are now 13% lower this year than if inflation had remained the more typical 3% for retirees who have been receiving Social Security since 2009 when the low COLAs started. A Social Security benefit of ,000 in 2009 is about 2 per month lower today than if COLA had been the more typical 3%, with a total loss of about ,697 in Social Security benefit growth over the past seven years. Over the same period, however, actual senior costs have continued to climb. Some 72% of retirees who participated in TSCL's 2016 Senior Survey reported that their monthly expenses had gone up by more than in 2015, despite the lack of growth in inflation. .Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned lawmakers that the suspension of the debt limit would expire on March 15th. That deadline has come and gone without congressional action, and the Treasury Department is now using "extraordinary measures" – like postponing contributions to retirement accounts for federal employees – to prevent a default. .The high cost of treatment is a frequently cited barrier by those who are not getting the dental care they need. Elizabeth H., a retiree living in Colorado told us "I do not have the ,000 I was told that I needed to get my teeth fixed. They need to either be pulled and a bridge put in, or root canaled. Being on a limited income, I do not see getting any of this done, and so it affects my health negatively. Without dental care, I'm not as healthy as I could be." … Continued

Understand how much risk the insurer shifts to you. Deductibles can commonly range from 0 to ,500, but claims for severe weather disasters can find you responsible for paying as much as 5% of your home's insured value (up to 10 percent in Florida) before your insurer covers damage expenses. Example: Your home is insured for 0,000 and your policy calls for a 5% deductible for hurricanes. You would pay ,500 out-of-pocket on any storm claim prior to your insurer covering the rest. .Negotiations on how to fund the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Medicare physician "doc fix" continued this week. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (MI-4) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (MT) led the 20 congressional conference committee members in talks aimed at producing a bill by the February 29th deadline. .On Wednesday, the budget conference that was created in last month's deal to raise the debt ceiling and re-open the government met publicly for the first time. Each of the twenty-nine members – including seven House members and all twenty-two members of the Senate Budget Committee – made opening statements to establish their positions. As expected, many of the conferees seemed split along party lines on Wednesday, but each of them stressed a strong desire to reach an agreement. .The "house calls" can be money-makers for health plans when they document medical problems like complications from diabetes or heart trouble. Health plans profit because Medicare pays higher rates for sicker patients using a billing formula based on the patient's "risk score." Plans can receive thousands of dollars in higher payments from Medicare even though the insurer incurs no additional costs for covering Medicare services for your brother. .Congressman Mulvaney also expressed his commitment to reforming the Social Security program during Tuesday's confirmation hearings. He recommended increasing the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits, and in the recent past, he has voted in favor of legislation that would reduce cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) by adopting the "chained" COLA. According to TSCL's research, "chaining" the Social Security COLA would amount to an across-the-board benefit cut of around 8 percent. .The subcommittee's bill would repeal the formula and replace it with an enhanced fee-for-service system, while also allowing doctors to opt-out and participate in alternative payment models that emphasize quality. The bill was overwhelmingly approved by a voice vote on Tuesday, but much work remains to be done. Lawmakers have not yet determined how they will offset the full cost of the bill, although it does currently include funding for some provisions by authorizing transfers from the Medicare Part B Trust Fund. .The study found that a person who retired in 2000 — with an average Social Security benefit of 6 per month — would have ,246.20 per month by 2020. However, because retiree costs are rising at a substantially faster pace than the COLA, that individual would require a Social Security benefit of 0.00 more per month, or a total of ,626.20 in 2020, just to maintain his or her 2000 level of buying power. .Earlier this year, I introduced the Today's American Dream Act (H.R. 1084) to ensure that mature workers can get those new skills and get back to work. This bill contains two key provisions. The first creates and expands computer skill and resume writing job-training programs, exclusively for workers over the age of 5The second adds greater flexibility to existing programs so they can better target and serve mature workers who have unique skill gaps and needs, often because of family commitments. .Officials working on the plan have not yet settled on many of its details. The Trump administration first proposed the approach in 201Three officials familiar with the matter said it remains under consideration and has not been ruled out, despite Trump's endorsement for the Grassley-Wyden bill.