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  • New Legislative News Post

    Meanwhile, Republicans argued that Medicare should not be expanded when its hospital fund is already slated to be insolvent in 2026. .This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts to continue the summer recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 4th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following five... .While the U.S. Treasury predicts the government will run out of cash as early as March 31st, illegal immigrant workers may have pocketed billions in 2009 and 2010 in advance Making Work Pay tax credits for which they are not eligible. The Making Work Pay tax credit specifically banned people without valid Social Security numbers from receiving the credit. But because the tax credit was paid in advance in higher paychecks through lower tax withholdings, millions of illegal workers undoubtedly would have received the money, even though they may not have filed a tax return. … Continued

  • Category Issues Cola Articles Page 12

    Clauses requiring mandatory arbitration have become exceedingly common in many types of contracts, but they can have serious implications for unsuspecting consumers. By signing such agreements, consumers give up their Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury or their right to bring civil suit in court against the company no matter what the grievance. This can even include sexual abuse, medication errors, and negligence. .Since the start of CPI-E in 1983, the average difference between it and the CPI-W is roughly .25 percentage point per year. Sounds tiny but, like interest, it compounds over time. Had the CPI-E been used to determine COLAs since 2015, your benefit would be about 2% higher today. An average benefit of ,215 per month in 2015 will increase to ,298 per month in 2020. But had the CPI-E been used to calculate the COLAs, that benefit would have been per month more or ,324 in 2020. .Supporters also stressed the fact that the IPAB has strict limitations. The Board cannot restrict Medicare benefits, raise taxes, increase beneficiaries' cost-sharing, modify eligibility criteria, cut payments to hospitals before 2020, or ration care. Instead, the IPAB will report on healthcare costs, access, quality, and utilization each year, and will make innovative cost-saving recommendations as it sees fit. … Continued

Likewise, AstraZeneca, a top competitor, has received a BARDA promise of up to .2 billion for commercializing a product derived from research at the University of Oxford. .Social Security Trust Fund is the biggest government account holding U.S. debt — and the U.S. Treasury owes the Trust Fund more than .8 trillion. .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. .For details, or to see if your Members of Congress have scheduled meetings, contact their offices. You can find contact information for all Members of Congress on the ACTION CENTER of our website. For tips on which questions you should ask at your next town hall, click HERE. .Source: "Senators Introduced Medicare Reform Plan: The Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act," Paul.Senate.Gov, March 15, 2012. .The 2100 Act, if signed into law, would increase Social Security benefits by 2 percent, cut taxes for over 11 million seniors, increase the minimum benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line, and make COLAs more fair and accurate. It would also take measures to increase the solvency of the trust fund beyond the next seventy-five years, through the year 2100. .The chances for legislation remain strong as more experts say older seniors need a benefit boost to protect them from outliving their retirement resources. Your continued support, letters, and phone calls to Members of Congress make all the difference in building co-sponsorship. TSCL has been instrumental in building support for the Notch Fairness legislation and remains committed to passage. .We will update you whenever we have additional information. .Thousands of nursing homes across the country have not been checked to see if staff are following proper procedures to prevent coronavirus transmission, a form of community spread that is responsible for more than a quarter of the nation's Covid-19 fatalities.