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  • Payroll Tax Cut

    In addition, President Obama issued a veto threat earlier this week when he released a Statement of Administration Policy that read: "The Administration is committed to strengthening Medicare for those who depend on it and protection of the public's health. We believe this legislation fails to accomplish these goals." .The number of employees at your company determines whether you must enroll at age 65, or whether you can delay, and keep your employer insurance. Because you work for a company with fewer than 20 employees, Medicare pays first once you turn 6That means, if you miss your initial enrollment deadline, you would not be able to use your former employer coverage, even if you and your employer continued to pay the premiums. People who work for companies with more than 20 employees may delay enrollment and keep their current coverage as long as they meet certain rules. .TSCL is fighting the plan to chain COLAs and believes seniors need a COLA that more adequately protects the buying power of their Social Security benefits. "Members of Congress are more likely to re-think voting for legislation when they see a large number of seniors are adamantly opposed to cutting COLAs," says Hyland. To learn more about proposals that would affect your Social Security benefits, get tips on reducing your Medicare costs, and sign up for TSCL's free online newsletter The Social Security & Medicare Advisor, visit TSCL at . … Continued

  • Social Security Recipients To Get 1200 Stimulus Check

    In the months ahead, TSCL will continue to advocate for these and other legislative efforts that would improve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare without cutting benefits for seniors. .House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he still expects the House to consider regular fiscal year 2021 spending bills beginning in June. But Senate Leader McConnell has not discussed any timetable for the bills coming out of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which must happen before the full Senate can consider the legislation. The Appropriations Committee got off to a late start, and it is not clear the committee will keep its summer working schedule. As a result, there is growing expectation that – once again - a continuing resolution will be needed to prevent a government shutdown on the eve of the election and that lawmakers will complete their work on the spending measures in a lame-duck session. .— who have no Medicare supplement through a former employer. … Continued

Three Key Senate Bills Gain Support .One-out-of-three adults covered by Medicare is not getting regular routine dental care, according to TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey. We estimate that translates to roughly 20 million older Americans who are going without bi-annual cleanings, X-rays, and dental exams. Medicare does not cover routine dental health services, and that often comes as a shock to new beneficiaries. More than half of survey participants say they do not have any dental insurance coverage. .While you may hear a lot of shouting about the payroll tax cut over the next few months, don't let it distract you from the real threat to Social Security – namely, radical plans to convert Social Security from the current guaranteed retirement benefit for everyone to a risky gamble on Wall Street that would benefit only a select few at best. .According to an article in The Hill, a Washington, D.C., newspaper that covers legislative matters in Congress, it just might happen. .How have you been affected by COVID-19? Share your story with us at . .Mr. Kluck and The Senior Citizens League's legislative team met with several congressional offices — including the offices of House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Phil Roe (TN-1) and House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John Larson (CT-1) — to discuss goals and strategies for the 116th Congress, which officially began on January 3rd, 2019. .TSCL supports H.R. 4012 enthusiastically, and we were pleased to see two new cosponsors sign on to it this week. We will be advocating for the passage of H.R. 4012 and S. 2251 – Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (MA) companion bill – tirelessly in the coming months because we know that a 3.9 percent COLA would provide much-needed relief to our members and supporters next year. .There are now efforts for legislation to boost domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. There is a new measure that would require the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to "convene a committee of experts to analyze the impact of U.S. dependence" on foreign medicines and to make recommendations to Congress. There is also an effort to use the fiscal 2021 defense authorization bill to strengthen U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing and advance "make it in America" policies that favor domestic drug-production plants. .It remains to be seen if Congress will go along with this plan.