News

  • Legislative Update August 2018

    This makes additional protective measures such as mask-wearing all the more necessary. .Changes in your earnings: Did you report increases in salary or commissions? You need to keep Social Security informed of higher earnings in order for your benefits to be accurately withheld. .Another Social Security reform bill – the Social Security for Future Generations Act (H.R. 2855) from Congressman Al Lawson, Jr. (FL-5) – gained one new cosponsor this week. The new cosponsor, Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP-1), is the nineteenth lawmaker to officially sign on to the bill. If adopted, it would strengthen and improve the program by adopting the CPI-E, applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000, creating a new benefit for widows and widowers, and increasing the Special Minimum Benefit so it equals 125 percent of the poverty line. … Continued

  • Backdoor Medicare Cut Could Raise Your Out Of Pocket Costs

    The Social Security 2100 Act — In the 115th Congress, Congressman John Larson's (CT-1) Social Security 2100 Act gained the support of more than 170 cosponsors, but unfortunately it was not brought to the House floor for a vote. In TSCL's December meeting with Congressman Larson's staff, he agreed to re-introduce the bill at the start of the 116th Congress, and to convene several hearings on the bill as the new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee in the 116th TSCL is confident that the bill will be advanced by the House of Representatives by the end of this year. .Have You Been Fully Vaccinated? .Johnson says that the federal government is looking at the wrong market basket to determine the annual change in prices in the goods and services used by retired and disabled Americans. According to Johnson, had the government used a more appropriate inflation index that measures costs experienced by people age 62 and older, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), retirees would get a COLA of 2.1 percent instead of 0.3 percent in 201"But instead, the COLA is based on the increased price of goods normally purchased by younger working adults," she notes. … Continued

Lowering drug prices is one of the highest priorities of TSCL and we will be working very hard to get legislation passed this year. .Where to find premium information. Rather than calling insurance agencies for quotes, first visit the website of your state insurance commission and look for a publication listing all the state-approved Medigap insurers and Medigap plans (A through N) sold in your state. The information includes the insurer's company name, phone number and website address, and more crucially, the current premiums for the plans (A through N). Since all insurers are required to cover the same benefits under specific plans (A through N) then all you need to do is select the plan covering the benefits you are interested in (such as Plan F), then find a good insurer with the lowest premium for the plan you are shopping for. Not all states have all plans. Calls to the insurer are necessary to confirm premium quotes for your zip code. For Part D Plans, or Medicare Advantage plans, use the health and drug plan finder on the Medicare website at www.Medicare.gov. It's important to select those plans by selecting the lowest-costing plan based on the prescriptions you currently take. .Terry Newell currently teaches leadership, decision - making, and ethics courses for a variety of organizations. He is the former dean of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was the director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education. .Rather than get into all the details of how this works, we will simplify it this way. The Democrats now have the majority in the Senate because Vice President Harris can break tie votes, giving a majority vote of 51 to the Democrats. .Legislation to allow the importation of less-costly FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada and other nations is still pending in Congress, and TSCL continues to work for enactment. Seniors like you and your wife who order prescription drugs by mail from Canada faced a particularly tough decision about Medicare Part D. Either you enroll in a Part D plan and quite likely pay more than you do now, or don't enroll and face the risk of paying a steep penalty if you change their mind and sign up after the May 15 deadline. .Low-income "dual eligibles" — Medicare beneficiaries whose incomes are so low that they are also eligible for Medicaid. Part B premiums are paid on their behalf by their state Medicaid program (about 19% of beneficiaries).[4] ."Reducing the cost of prescription drugs is essential for both Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare's finances," says Mary Johnson, a Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The average monthly Social Security retiree benefit is just ,552, while spending on prescription drugs is the fastest growing cost that most retirees face in retirement," she says. Over time, drug costs take a growing portion of Social Security income, because prices are rising several times faster than annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs). .Personal testimonials are no substitute for scientific evidence. .If signed into law, the Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply Social Security payroll taxes to earnings up to the contribution and benefit base and to all earnings in excess of 0,000.