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  • Legislative Update For The Week Ending September 2 2011 Feed

    Because of the coronavirus, however, the BLS has been unable to gather much of the information from those two categories. Therefore, although they do not use the word, they are going to guess at those costs. It may be an educated guess, but it is still a guess, nonetheless. .Old vs. New LawЧMonthly Benefit Differentials .Look, nobody gets wealthy off of Social Security. It's a subsistence level program. … Continued

  • Fastest Growing Retiree Cost 2015 Hint Not Prescriptions

    This week, House Republicans revived the AHCA after lawmakers affiliated with the Freedom Caucus endorsed a new version of it. A new amendment put forth by Congressman Tom MacArthur (NJ-3) would allow states to opt out of the ACA's essential health benefits mandate and allow them to do away with a provision that prevents insurers from charging sick individuals more for their coverage. .Congress this week was sort of the entire U.S. in miniature form. The Senate came back to town to conduct business, but not all Senators agreed with that. Most Senators followed the rules for wearing face masks, but not all. Not all committee hearings were attended by all the members. Most Senators were careful about following the protocols that have been recommended by health care professionals, but not all. .This is a major blow to military retirees whose reasons for settling around a military base included getting the health care they were promised when they agreed to serve a career in the Armed Forces. … Continued

Support Grows for Key Bill .The Senior Citizens League's surveys in 2020 asked about support for currently debated proposals to change Social Security and Medicare benefits. The five top areas of consensus include the following: .Although immigration law forbids work without authorization, immigrants do find jobs and employers report their earnings to SSA. Currently there are no official published data on the amount of money paid into the Social Security system by aliens whether legal or illegal.(5) Social Security's Chief Actuary, Stephen C. Goss, however, has been quoted in the news media as saying that about three quarters of "other–than–legal" immigrants pay payroll taxes.(6) .The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the agency within the Department of Labor that gathers information about prices that consumers pay in order to determine the inflation rate, and therefore the COLA for next year, has let it be known that because of the virus they are going to have to estimate some of the costs of goods and services instead of finding out what they actually are. .The extra time was needed because although both houses of Congress were finally able to pass the needed legislation, the bill was nearly 5,600 pages in length. It is probable that no member of Congress actually read the entire bill and likely very few Congressional staff members read it either. .TSCL agrees with Congressman Duncan, and we enthusiastically support the CPI for Seniors Act. In a letter of endorsement, Art Cooper – Chairman of TSCL's Board of Trustees – wrote: "Unfortunately, years of record-low COLAs like this one – including multiple years of zero COLAs – will have a devastating impact on the long-term adequacy of Social Security benefits for more than 59 million beneficiaries … Your bill would go a long way in ensuring the retirement security older Americans have earned and deserve, and we look forward to informing our members and supporters about your efforts on Capitol Hill." .TSCL supports allowing any veteran to get the Covid vaccine at the VA and we will keep an eye on the progress of this effort. .Since you don't receive health insurance coverage where you work, you will need to enroll in Medicare Part B, which covers doctors and hospital outpatient services when you first become eligible for Part B. That period starts three months before you turn 65, includes the month you turn 65 and ends 3 months after the month you turn 65. ."This leaves 20 percent of survey participants who just aren't sure if their Social Security benefits will be taxable this tax season or not, more than triple the 6 percent who were uncertain about the 2019 tax year," Johnson says. The survey, which was conducted online from mid-January through February, had more than 864 participants.