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  • Benefit Bulletin May 2017

    Congress managed to pass a short-term fix to prevent a 19% benefit cut that was due to hit disabled Social Security beneficiaries by the end of this year. The legislation heads off the cut by temporarily transferring some payroll tax revenues over the next three years, expanding measures to better ensure medical eligibility for benefits, and by preventing improper payments due to fraudulent work. The stronger eligibility and anti-fraud provisions are strongly supported by TSCL, incorporating several recommendations that TSCL presented last fall to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. The legislation: .The Notch is closely connected to problems that arose the last time Congress overhauled the Social Security benefit formula in 197A transitional benefit formula was provided to phase in the changes, and protect those closest to retirement from abrupt benefit reductions. The transitional formula was flawed however, and failed to provide the promised protection. .Terry: The anchor takes on too much weight, swaying the decision in a particular direction. It can lead us to ignore or never even consider other options. In buying a used car, the sales price may be much higher than the car is worth. Yet we start there in haggling over what we'll pay, possibly paying only somewhat less than the price, and thinking we got a good deal when we did not. In the case of the charitable donation, we may feel guilty the more we consider giving less than the anchor ("suggested") amount. … Continued

  • Whats Medicare Buy

    How To Grow Your Initial Retirement Benefit By 8% Per Year Until Age 70. If you have the choice, learn how delaying your retirement benefit can result in a higher benefit and pay a return today's CDs and most bonds can't touch. .Medicare Extra Help helps pay for some, or most, of the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare prescription drug coverage. It is also known as the Part D "Low-Income" subsidy. Extra Help pays for the Part D premium up to a certain amount (specific to your state), lowers the cost of your prescription drugs, gives you special enrollment periods to switch plans, and eliminates the Part D late enrollment penalty if you did not enroll in Part D by your original deadline. If your income is under ,615 (individuals) or ,175 (married couples) and you have limited savings and resources, you might be eligible. Apply for Medicare Extra Help on the Social Security website www.SSA.gov. .What you can do: To sign a petition, click here. … Continued

Mary: Who tends to use anchors to influence our decisions, and when should we be wary? .The next twelve months is one of the most critical periods for the nation's seniors and disabled who receive Social Security and Medicare. The failure of a special Joint Committee of Congress known as the "super committee," means automatic budget cuts totaling billions of dollars that are scheduled to kick in by 2013 unless Congress enacts different plans. Although Social Security and Medicaid appear to have escaped the knife for now, billions in Medicare spending would be cut from payments to hospitals and other providers. .For more information about legislation that would strengthen the Social Security and Medicare programs, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. For frequent updates from TSCL on Capitol Hill and to view photos from this week, follow us on Twitter. .William told TSCL this week: "Senior citizens have the most to lose because they are by far the largest population of people who find themselves in need of costly in-home or nursing home care. For Congress not to be concerned with the catastrophic effect this would cause is cruel and unusual indifference to elderly and disabled Americans." .Budget Moves Through Committee .Rep. Phil Roe (TN), who served as a witness at the Energy and Commerce hearing, introduced legislation in January to repeal the IPAB. The bill currently has bipartisan support and more than 160 cosponsors. While some, including President Obama and his Fiscal Commission, have proposed strengthening the authority of the IPAB, most at this week's hearings expressed their support for legislation that would eliminate it. .This week, Members of Congress returned to Washington following a two-week recess and quickly began working on legislation to prevent a government shutdown. In addition, House Republicans revived the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal and replace most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) if adopted. Finally, one House Subcommittee met to discuss fraud prevention within the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program. .Both the SSA and AARP say that "fixing" the Notch would be a costly mistake that would drain dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund reserve. In 1992 one popular piece of legislation to provide improved monthly benefits was estimated to cost 0 billion. To counter these concerns, alternative "capped-cost" legislation has been introduced. "The Notch Fairness Act of 2001" would provide those born from 1917 through 1926 their choice of either improved monthly benefits, or a Lump-Sum of ,000 payable over a four-year period. The cost of Lump-Sum legislation is estimated to be billion, or slightly less than .25 billion per year over a four-year period. .Finally, when older workers do land new jobs, they typically experience a steep drop in income and benefits. Median wages for people who take new jobs in their fifties fall by a median of 57 percent, and 25 percent lose their health insurance.