News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending May 4 2018

    Get unbiased counseling. NEVER, EVER drop your Medicare supplemental or switch Medicare Advantage plans based solely on the sales pitch of an insurance agent! This is especially true if the agent is trying to pitch you from a table set up in a discount store, or pharmacy window. DO NOT do business at all with anyone who calls on the phone or knocks on your door, regardless of who they say they are. There have been very widespread reports of con artists who tell seniors they are calling from Medicare or Social Security. You have no safe way of confirming who they are. Don't respond. Hang up and keep your doors locked! .For information about town hall meetings near you in the final days of the week-long recess, call the local offices of your elected officials. You can find contact information for your Members of Congress right here. .The implication that older Americans don't need their Social Security and Medicare benefits, and that seniors are demanding theirs at the expense of the young, is a nasty tactic that's not supported by the facts. According to the Social Security Administration, 50 percent of people age 65 and older have a total income of ,857 —hardly rolling in dough. Yet, those same seniors spend an average of 15 percent of their incomes on healthcare costs — a portion that is rapidly growing. … Continued

  • Family Caregivers Need Credit New Tax Credit Would Help Families Age In Place Says The Senior Citizens League

    "Switching to a more slowly growing CPI is not the only change affecting seniors that deficit negotiators are looking at," notes Hyland. "Members of Congress from both parties are already considering changes that would make seniors pay a bigger share of their Medicare, and reducing government Medicaid payments at the same time," he adds. .TSCL agrees that lawmakers must take action soon to stabilize the individual health insurance market and to bring down skyrocketing prescription drug prices. In the coming months, our legislative team will continue to monitor and support legislation like the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act (S. 771, H.R. 1776), which would reduce costs and improve care for older Americans. For updates on this bill and others like it, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website or follow TSCL on Twitter. .And third, one new cosponsor – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) – signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act (S. 2671), bringing the cosponsor total to two. If adopted, S. 2671 would comprehensively strengthen and reform the Social Security program by basing COLAs on the CPI-E, increasing monthly benefits by 2%, creating a new Special Minimum Benefit equal to 125% of the poverty line, providing a tax cut to Social Security beneficiaries, applying the payroll tax to annual income over 0,000, and gradually increasing the payroll tax rate by 0.25%. … Continued

28% Of Medicare Beneficiaries Hit Doughnut Hole In 2015 .This higher starting benefit will mean higher cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in terms of dollars, and higher benefits for spouses and survivors that are based on your benefit. Over the course of a 25 year retirement, the extra money adds up to more income from Social Security, often in the tens of thousands of dollars depending on the age you retire. .The annual COLA increased Social Security benefits in January of 2021 by just 1.3 percent. While the lack of inflation in 2020 did somewhat improve the buying power of Social Security benefits by 2 percentage points by the month of January 2021 — from a loss in buying power of 30 percent to a loss of 28 percent — that improvement was completely wiped out by soaring inflation in February and March of this year. .Last year Americans were told that one of the ways to prevent being infected with Covid-19 is to wash hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds, and if that was not possible, use hand sanitizer. That resulted in a run on hand sanitizers and for awhile they were difficult to find. .The new effort could be part of a second package later this year and TSCL will closely examine the legislation once it is finally developed to see if it accomplishes our goals and whether we can support it. .It is likely the President will face a legal challenge over these actions. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse and any changes to taxes or spending are supposed to come from Congress. .Reduce the size of the initial retirement benefit that new Social Security beneficiaries are scheduled to receive; .The period covered by the Notch is a major area of dispute. When benefits are represented on a chart, the disparity forms a deep "V" notch. Benefits plunged from a peak for retirees born in 1916 and hit the lowest part of the "V" for those who were born in the years 1920-2Benefits began to rise for those born in 1922 until they became level with other retirees, starting with those born in 192See illustration below. .On Thursday, TSCL announced its support for the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1019 and H.R. 3090). Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT) introduced the bill in the Senate, and Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17) introduced the companion in the House. If signed into law, the bill would expand the federal definition of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It would also incorporate elder abuse prevention trainings, screenings, and reporting protocols into all senior service access points that receive federal funding under the bill.