News

  • Chained Cpi Affects More Than Colas Seniors Would Get Less Pay More

    This week TSCL Board member and Legislative Liaison, Doug Osborne, was in Washington. D.C. Mr. Osborne began his visit by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for Veteran's Day with TSCL's parent organization, TREThe Enlisted Association. Together with TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton and TSCL Legislative Consultant Larry Madison he spent the next two days on the "Hill" speaking with Congressional staff members about legislation TSCL is lobbying to pass in Congress. The focus of our efforts was on Social Security issues, specifically the "Notch" issue and the "Windfall Elimination Provision," (WEP) both of which affect many TSCL supporters. .Specialists are already warning that under the new "quality initiatives" some patients may have difficulty finding services under the new system as doctors join larger practices or stop accepting patients. As doctors reorganize and move into new HMO - like Accountable Care Organizations, all sorts of new questions are coming up. Does this payment system create an incentive to send unprofitably sick patients with complicated conditions elsewhere for care? How will the government measure quality, and what evidence will the Administration use to determine successful doctor performance? .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP) – signed on to the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), bringing the total up to twenty. If signed into law, the CPI-E Act would base the Social Security COLA upon the spending patterns of seniors. Currently, it's based upon the way young, urban workers spend their money – a method that underestimates the spending inflation that seniors experience each year. … Continued

  • 99 Older Voters Not Happy Secret Social Security Cuts

    Use a consumer price index that better reflects the costs of retirees — the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following a week-long holiday recess. They have just one week to reach a deal to fund most of the federal government past Friday, December 7th. Should they fail to reach an agreement before then, part of the federal government will shut down like it did earlier this year. .It is anticipated that one of the orders will be to shift drug and medical production to this country by suddenly cutting off federal agencies from those offshore supply chains. … Continued

What do you think? Seniors are invited to participate in TSCL's annual 2014 Senior Survey. For a free 8-page special issue of TSCL's Best Ways to Save, send to cover postage and handling with your name and address to The Senior Citizens League, 1001 N. Fairfax St. 101, Alexandria, VA 22314. .SSA Reports Massive DI Overpayments .With the impeachment drama out of the way Congress really got down to business this week. Health care is the number one issue on the minds of voters as we head toward the November elections and Congress knows it. .Most people don't know where to begin, and the process is designed to overwhelm you before you start. You, however, do not have to be one of these people. All you need to do is to call and set up a free counseling session with a local Medicare benefits counselor. Do this NOW. Locate the program in your area on the State Health Insurance Program website — https://www.shiptacenter.org. .Source: James W. Kelley & Joseph R. Humphreys, "Congressional Intent Concerning The Notch Issue: Legislative Background of the 1977 Social Security Amendments," 1994.Source: Congressional Research Service May 24, 1999 .As a country, we also need to encourage generations of all ages to be informed about their options for retirement saving and to take personal responsibility for their own financial planning, including understanding the extent of their senior benefits such as Medicare or Social Security or taking advantage of the fact that many employers will match what American workers choose to contribute to their retirement, which means twice the savings. Currently, for many Americans, their personal savings fall well short of what they will need to continue to fund their standards of living after retiring from the workforce full-time – and I worry that each generation is saving less. If financial planning feels overwhelming, there are many existing resources you can access to help ensure you are effectively utilizing your options. The Department of Labor has created a guide called the Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement to help with practical tips for building retirement savings. USA.gov provides an outline of your options for saving as well as a list of questions to ask yourself to ensure you're planning sufficiently for your future. You can also use a retirement calculator to find out the best age to claim your Social Security benefits. If you are experiencing a problem with your pension, profit sharing, or retirement savings plans, USA.gov points to the Pension Rights Center as a potential source of free legal assistance or advice. Knowledge is power, and it's important that Americans of all ages are informed of their options so that they can plan appropriately for their futures. .Their new estimate says that universal masking in the U.S. could save some 130,000 lives by the end of February. .An extremely low COLA (including the 1.3% that we are forecasting for 2021) could trigger a special provision of law that can cause Part B premiums to spike. That's especially true when combined with the higher than forecast Medicare outlays due to COVID-19, and the need to replenish program reserves. .We could, alternatively, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices — a proposal that has been raised by politicians and beaten back by industry again and again. We would then need to restrict markup for a COVID-19 vaccine for the private market. Otherwise, we would get the kinds of results emerging from the COVID testing industry, where Medicare pays 0 for the test but some labs charge insurers over ,000.