News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending September 13 2013

    Retired seniors have been far more accepting of vaccines than their working-age counterparts. Their full vaccination rate is about 82%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because they're susceptible to severe illness, even relatively few unvaccinated seniors mean more deaths -- and more crowded hospitals -- than would occur in a larger pool of younger adults. .But financial problems are more likely to compound for Notch Babies and their families because Notch Babies received Social Security benefits lower than those of other retirees having similar work and earnings histories, and they are at the age when many have exhausted their retirement savings and other resources. According to U.S. Census data, 9 percent of men and 14 percent of senior women over 85 have incomes lower than the U.S. poverty level — ,170 for single seniors in 201A core set of benefits is available to low-income seniors including: .Over one million Medicare recipients in my home state of Indiana would face reductions in choice and difficulty receiving care if provider incentives are cut. Instead of reducing access to healthcare, it is time to shift focus to the big picture of improving the economy through job creation so more people are able to contribute to their own healthcare. It is not time to chip away at benefits to the men and women who built this great country. Individuals who contributed to Medicare for decades rely on that investment for their well-being. … Continued

  • 56 Of Retirees Think We Need To Invest More In Medicare

    TSCL originally made this proposal with the massive support of our members. It is designed to provide fair compensation for the lower benefits Notch Victims receive. It has now been introduced as Bills in Congress. If passed, it will provide a Settlement payment of ,000 to each living Notch Victim or their beneficiary spouse. .Missing Medicare Part B Enrollment Deadline Triggers Penalties .Earnings from work could cause Social Security to withhold your benefits. Should you be successful in your job search, your earnings could affect what you receive in Social Security benefits. Social Security will deduct in benefits for every you earn above the annual limit, which is adjusted annually and is ,720 in 201If for example, you started a job and earn ,000 in 2017, you would earn ,280 more than the exempt ,720. That means Social Security with withhold about ,140 in benefits. If you are receiving a reduced survivors monthly benefit of 5, or ,100 annually, then you would receive only 0 in benefits for the entire year of 201You would receive no benefits at all for 10 months out of the year. … Continued

What should you do? If you still use paper tax returns, don't wait for the forms and instructions to show up in your mailbox. The IRS did not send any out this year. Visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov for forms, instructions, and to file online. Free tax assistance services may be available in your area, or call your local IRS taxpayer assistance office. .Members of Congress returned to their home states and districts this week for a holiday recess that will last for two weeks. Members of the House are expected to return to Washington on Tuesday, April 9th, and Members of the Senate are expected to return on Monday, April 8th. Budget negotiations will likely resume at that time, as President Obama is slated to release his own plan for 2014 on April 8th. .The Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1391), introduced by Representative John Larson (CT-1). Like the FAIR Social Security Act, this bill would base COLAs on the CPI-E. It would also provide a 2 percent benefit bump for the average beneficiary and create a new minimum benefit set at 25 percent above the poverty line. In addition, more than 11 million seniors would see a significant tax cut, since the bill would double the income threshold for the taxation of benefits from ,000 per individual to ,000, and from ,000 per couple to 0,000. .Second, one new cosponsor – Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) – signed on to the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1251), bringing the total up to fifty-two. If adopted, the CPI-E Act would base Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on the more fair and adequate CPI-E. Currently, COLAs are based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W), and they fail to keep pace with the inflation experienced by older Americans. .This week, TSCL announced its support for legislation that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46) recently re-introduced: the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act (H.R. 2745). Each year, millions of unauthorized workers use invalid, stolen, or fraudulent Social Security numbers to get jobs in the United States. Later, if they receive "green cards" or work authorization, they may file a claim for Social Security benefits based on those illegal earnings. TSCL feels that Congress should put an end to this practice in order to protect the integrity of the Social Security program and to prevent further strains on the Trust Fund. Rep. Rohrabacher's bill – which was introduced with twenty cosponsors last week – would do just that, and we look forward to working with him throughout the 113th Congress to help build support for it. .In Virginia the law reduced unemployment benefits by half of a person's Social Security check. For example, someone who received ,000 per month in Social Security lost 0, or 5 from each weekly unemployment check. Social Security recipients were rightfully outraged and successfully lobbied the Virginia legislature for repeal of the unemployment "offset" rule. That repeal is now effective in Virginia and numerous other states. Check with your state unemployment commission to learn how Social Security might affect your unemployment benefits. .Congressional Republicans have also indicated opposition to the administration's proposal, saying it breaks from GOP philosophy by linking U.S. prices to those in other countries where there are price controls. While they like it in part, some Democrats have said it does not go far enough in lowering prices. The change would only lower prices for physician-administered drugs for people on Medicare, meaning people with private insurance and people getting drugs at the pharmacy counter would not benefit from lower prices. .While not all generics work the same or as well as brand name drugs, they do work much or most of the time and the savings would be enormous. .Congress should allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices by tying U.S. prices to prices paid in other industrialized countries like Canada, Great Britain and Japan where prices are lower. — 85 percent support, 13 percent not sure, and only 2 percent opposed.