News
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H R 2745 No Social Security For Illegal Immigrants Act
Prescription Drug Re-Importation – Making safe, secure re-importation a reality. .Four Things To Avoid When Shopping For Retirement Housing .For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings during the summer recess, call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE. For a list of ten sample town hall questions, click HERE. … Continued
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Legislative Update Week Ending September 9 2016
Low-income seniors would receive assistance from Medicaid, and those with the greatest health expenses would receive additional help from the government. According to the plan's sponsors, The Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act would reduce the deficit by trillion over ten years, and it would save the average enrollee ,500 in out-of-pocket expenses each year. However, a recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that a majority of Americans – seventy percent – would prefer to keep Medicare as is, "with the government guaranteeing seniors health insurance and making sure that everyone gets the same defined set of benefits." .Nearly 50 years ago, we made a promise to ensure quality, affordable healthcare for all American seniors. In order to protect that promise, we must promote excellence and efficiency in Medicare, while being more fiscally responsible. One of the most important ways we can achieve those critical goals is to fix the broken Medicare physician payment system, which has created uncertainty and instability for seniors, healthcare providers, and the federal budget for decades. Because of the failed physician payment system, there is a looming crisis facing seniors and the doctors who care for them: on January 1, 2013 doctors could be hit with a scheduled reduction in Medicare payments of more than 30 percent. .It makes no sense for the Social Security Administration to allow Social Security numbers older than 112 to remain active indefinitely, without investigating the status of the beneficiary. The oldest verified lifespan of any individual to have ever lived is 124. … Continued
In the days and weeks ahead, TSCL encourages its members and supporters to contact their elected officials to request their support for a clean and immediate increase in the debt ceiling. For frequent updates on this important issue, follow TSCL on Facebook or Twitter. .According to a 2013 Pew Research study, women tend to take time off work to have children or care for aging family members more often than men, and then wind up with zero or only low earnings during those years. This reduces the initial Social Security retirement benefit. If a woman works entirely as a stay-at-home mom or is a full-time caregiver and doesn't take a job with an employer or is not self-employed, this means she would only rely on survivor or spousal benefits based on her spouse's work record for financial support. .The message here isn't "work till you drop." Working even a few additional years can boost retirement security substantially when you finally do retire. There's a "triple whammy" effect -- delayed Social Security filings means higher monthly benefits; you have more years of contributions to retirement accounts; and you have fewer net years of drawing down those accounts. Working with financial planning experts, we estimated that these factors can boost income in retirement by one-third or more. .What does the policy cover? In addition to basic services, make sure you learn about tooth removals, root canals, periodontal gum treatments, dentures, crowns, bridges and implants. Read details carefully. For example, your dental plan may only cover one implant a year, even though you may need to get two or more done at one time. .How much are you spending on prescriptions? Be sure to take TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey and let us know. TSCL is working with Members of Congress to enact legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and supports bills that would cap or reduce out-of-pocket spending. .Medicare is currently prohibited from covering most hearing, vision, and dental services, even though millions of seniors are afflicted with age-related hearing loss, low vision, and poor oral health. When left untreated, these conditions often result in serious injuries and complications. What do you feel should be done about this? .Last fall, the Government Accountability Office uncovered .3 billion in improper payments from December 2010 to January 2013 made to people who had jobs when they were supposed to be unable to work. To be eligible for Social Security disability, beneficiaries must be unable to work due to a medical condition that's expected to last at least one year, or result in death. The list, however, includes murky afflictions like back pain, depression and other un-measurable afflictions, opening the system to fraud and abuse. .Each year SSA receives hundreds of millions of employer reported W2s. When Social Security receives a name or SSN on a W-2 that does not match SSA's records, the wage report goes into the ESF while the SSA attempts to reconcile the discrepancy. In recent years the file has been growing at an unprecedented pace—the fastest since the inception of Social Security in 1937. .For years I've been getting the same unwanted robo call. "Hello seniors!" a voice bellows. "Stand by to learn how you can receive a free back brace covered by Medicare."
