News

  • Legislative Update September 2020

    The amount you get from Social Security may surprise you. While the amount you receive depends on how many years you worked, your earnings, and the age at which you start benefits, the average monthly Social Security payment today is about ,100. People who retire with average benefits will receive about ,200 in 2011 prior to Medicare premium deductions. With people spending as much as 25 years in retirement, people who retire today with an initial benefit of ,100 can expect to receive more than 6,800 in Social Security over 25 years. But that assumes no changes to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). .Expanding Medicare coverage to include dental care. Millions of seniors are afflicted with age-related oral health issues. Yet under current law, the Medicare program is prohibited from covering most routine and emergency dental procedures, including fillings, root canals, extractions, and cleanings. The Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 22) would expand Medicare Part B coverage to include basic dental services and ensure that older Americans have access to the primary and preventive care that is needed to ensure good health in retirement. .For progress updates or for more information about these and other bills that would strengthen Social Security and Medicare programs, visit the our website or follow TSCL on Twitter. … Continued

  • Ask Advisor July 2015

    Bloomberg also said the administration is still moving forward with the plan and that the cards will likely be sent in November or December. .As much as the protection against reduction of Social Security benefits is appreciated, Barbara has been frustrated about high Medicare premium costs after years of low or no COLA growth. "It's been 36 months since I've had any raise in my net operating Social Security, but my actual household costs continue to go up," Barbara told us. "This isn't fair to retirees," she adds. .Sources: "Humana Inc. Overcharged Medicare Nearly 0 Million, Federal Audit Finds," Fred Schulte, NPR, April 20, 202"Insurers Running Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions As Feds Struggle to Stop It," Fred Schulte and Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News, July 16, 201"Reducing Medicare Advantage Overpayments," Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, February, 23, 2021. … Continued

The Notch Fairness Act, which was introduced by Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC-7) in March, would provide compensation to Notch babies, or those born between the years 1917 and 192Just years before they were set to retire, these individuals learned that they would have significantly lower benefits than they originally anticipated. TSCL feels that this is an inequity that was brought about because of the Social Security Act Amendments enacted and signed into law in 1977. .As opposed to previous years, the Senate leaders want any legislation they have to pass out of the way by the end of May. That means any bill has to pass the Senate, then the Senate and House would have to negotiate and reach agreement on one bill before it could be sent to the President for his signature. .The Senior Citizens League strongly believes allowing the HHS Secretary to negotiate with the drug companies is one important way to reduce the costs of drugs for seniors. We will be continuing our efforts to get Congress to pass legislation that would make this possible. .According to the IRS, advance payments of the Child Tax Credit will be made from July through December to eligible taxpayers and will be up to 50% of the credit. Advance payments will be estimated from your 2020 tax returns, or 2019 returns if the 2020 returns are not filed and processed yet. .On Wednesday, just hours before funding for the federal government was set to expire, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a shutdown like the one that occurred two years ago. The temporary fix will provide enough funding to last through December 11th. .Finally, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711) also gained one new cosponsor this week. Rep. Jared Nadler (NY-10) signed on to it, bringing the cosponsor total up to 10That bill, if signed into law, would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) while establishing a new formula for the non-covered earnings of future retirees. It would also create a separate formula for retirees who are currently affected by the WEP. TSCL believes H.R. 711 is a sensible step forward, and we hope it continues to gain strong support in the months ahead. .The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports H.R. 2276, H.R. 4957, S. 2387, and S. 2671, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information about these and other TSCL-backed bills, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. ."The Congressional Budget Office said in 2019 that the bill would likely hamper some pharmaceutical development due to lower ‘potential global revenues' but predicted that ‘the effects of the new drug introductions from increased federal spending under the bill on biomedical research would be modest and would almost all occur more than 20 years in the future.' On the other hand, it estimated that the bill would save more than 0 billion in drug spending over the next decade." .On Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a high-profile hearing on recent developments in the prescription drug market. According to the committee, thirty of the top-selling drugs in the United States experienced price increases of 76 percent between 2010 and 2014 – eight times the general inflation rate.