News

  • Update Totalization Is Hot Topic During Tscl Trustees Meetings On Capitol Hill

    It's not what the government tracks that causes your Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to grow so slowly. It's what the government isn't tracking that's keeping your COLAs so low. It may surprise you, as it did us at TSCL, to recently learn that COLAs are calculated using methodology that doesn't directly measure what you pay out-of-pocket for health insurance premiums. Add to that the fact that the consumer price index (CPI) the government uses to calculate COLAs (CPI-W) represents the spending habits of younger urban wage earners and clerical workers — or the spending habits of only 29% of the U.S. population. That's certainly not going to reflect the inflation experienced by most Social Security recipients. .If adopted, the bill would strengthen and reform the Social Security program responsibly, without enacting any benefit cuts for older or disabled Americans. Among other things, it would: boost Social Security benefits by 2 percent, protect against inflation by basing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on the CPI-E, create a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line, and cut taxes for over 12 million Social Security beneficiaries. .The exact mechanisms for enacting the provisions therein — such as requiring manufacturers to reveal their development costs — remain unclear. The industry has previously protected development data as a trade secret. The bills would also require "reasonable pricing clauses" be included in agreements between drug companies and agencies funding their work. They propose waiving exclusive licenses for COVID-19 drugs, allowing competitors to sell the same products as long as they pay the patent holder royalties. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending September 2 2016

    The U.S. – Mexico Totalization Agreement—which was signed by the Social Security Administrations of both the U.S. and Mexico in 2004, and is due to undergo review by the current or future President(s)—continues to pose a threat to Social Security beneficiaries. Because of a loophole, if the President signs the final Executive Totalization Social Security Agreement with Mexico, it could lead to Social Security benefits going to individuals who worked in the U.S. while illegal. .Eliminating the tax on Social Security benefits that currently applies to individuals with incomes as low as ,000 and married couples with incomes less than ,000. .First, one new cosponsor – Representative Greg Walden (OR-2) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), bringing the total up to 19If adopted, the Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. … Continued

This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for three key bills that would strengthen and protect the Social Security and Medicare programs. .Last year, my office received reports of people coming up to the doors of our elders, posing as census takers or COVID testers, and requesting sensitive information like Social Security numbers and other forms of identification -- something that real census takers or health workers would never do. .Sources: Making Work Pay Credit Was Implemented As Intended, But Resulted in Many Taxpayers Owing Taxes With Returns," Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration, November 1, 2010, Ref. No. 2011-41-002. .During the recent government shutdown, a group of feisty World War II vets managed to do what Congress failed miserably to do for another 15 days – reopen a part of our shuttered government. The National Mall and parks in Washington D.C. were closed to visitors. But on day one of the shutdown, CNN reported that "busloads of World War II vets, many in wheel chairs, broke past the barricades to visit the World War II Memorial as onlookers applauded." As the cameras rolled and several Members of Congress were busy trading blame, a line of vets rolled past security officers "who willingly stepped aside," CNN reported. .Your mail order pharmacy may require that your doctor fax the prescription and you will also mail in the original as well as other required forms, your check, or credit or debit card information. Be sure to find out when medications requiring refrigeration are shipped so you can be expecting them. In general, you can order refills after 60 days or so. .The SNAP Simplification for the Elderly Act (H.R. 4521) gained one new cosponsor in Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02), bringing the new cosponsor total up to 20. If enacted, H.R. 4521 would streamline the application process for senior citizens to receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill would also encourage collaboration between local Social Security offices and the SNAP programs to help seniors at risk of hunger enroll in both benefits simultaneously. .Trump's administration "has decided to pursue a radical and dangerous policy to set prices based on rates paid in countries that he has labeled as socialist, which will harm patients today and into the future," Stephen Ubl, the head of PhRMA, said in a statement. .Sources: "Measuring Up: The Case for the Chained CPI," Rosenberg, Goldwein, Moment of Truth Project, May 11, 201"Changes in Calculating the Consumer Price Indexes," Congressional Budget Office, September 1997. .Have You Been Fully Vaccinated?