News

  • Benefit Bulletin July 2020

    SGR Talks Stall as Deadline Looms .President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to buy certain drugs solely from American factories. .Reducing Medicare costs remains a top piece of unfinished business for TSCL. While Congress was successful in restraining a double-digit Medicare Part B increase in 2021, capping the increase at .90 per month rather than .60 more per month — I was particularly troubled to learn that .00 of the .90 Part B increase is a "repayment" charge. While TSCL congratulates Congress for passing legislation to hold the monthly Part B increase down, at least temporarily, the Part B increase wasn't "forgiven". The balance that won't be paid in 2021 will be recovered through a .00 per month repayment which will be tacked onto future Part B increases. That could take years. … Continued

  • Proposal Would Shift Escalating Medicare Costs To Beneficiaries Feed

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) website provides free calculators which are somewhat useful to estimate retirement benefits, but they don't provide guidance on when to claim your benefit. These calculators require you to input information, and you will receive rough estimates. A much more useful estimate with less work can be obtained when you set up your "my Social Security" account. You can receive benefit estimates based on your own earnings records that the SSA actually has on file for you. Still, these estimates lack the most recent earnings information, and don't give you a monthly estimate if you were to retire mid - year. .Throughout the remainder of the 113th Congress, TSCL will continue to urge Members of Congress to pass the Social Security Fairness Act since we believe strongly that it would go far in ensuring the retirement security of millions of seniors. To aid us in our efforts, we encourage you to contact your elected officials to request their support for S. 896 and H.R. 1795. .Republican leaders have also begun discussing plans to reform Medicare and Medicaid next year in an effort to reduce the deficit that the .5 trillion tax bill will create. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI-1) said in a radio interview on Wednesday: "We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit … This has been my big thing for many, many years. I think [Medicare is] the biggest entitlement we've got to reform." TSCL opposes reforms to Medicare, Medicaid, and other earned benefit programs that would result in higher out-of-pocket costs for older Americans. We will continue to advocate against benefit cuts in the months ahead. … Continued

Seniors and Baby Boomers nearing retirement have every right to object and that doesn't make anybody greedy for doing so. After 1983, when the Social Security Trust Fund began building up reserves, our government proceeded to use all excess funds, and replaced that money with .6 trillion in special non-marketable bonds, or I.O.U.s. Seniors are frequently told those I.O.U.s are backed by the full faith of the U.S. government which has never defaulted on its debt. But now that the U.S. Treasury must borrow to pay the interest due to the I.O.U.s held by the Trust Fund, lawmakers are considering plans that would cut promised Social Security benefits. If a government default on the U.S. savings bonds held by public investors is unthinkable — why is cutting obligations to Social Security beneficiaries any less so? .As we continue dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic, TSCL remains constant in our fight for you to protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We've had to make some adjustments in the way we carry on our work, but we have not, and will not stop our work on your behalf. .Each year SSA receives hundreds of millions of employer reported W2s. When Social Security receives a name or SSN on a W-2 that does not match SSA's records, the wage report goes into the ESF while the SSA attempts to reconcile the discrepancy. In recent years the file has been growing at an unprecedented pace—the fastest since the inception of Social Security in 1937. .Recently we heard from Susan Gross, a 66-year old retired office assistant living in Central Virginia, who spends most of her day caregiving. Her 46-year-old son. who is disabled from cerebral palsy, lives with her, as does her mother, who is now 9All three receive their healthcare coverage through Medicare. .However, support in the House has gone to two bills of the bills, both of which moved forward this week: HR 5826, sponsored by Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; and HR 5800, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. While they each deal with the same issue the way they try to solve it is different. ."The distinction between inpatient or outpatient can make a tremendous difference to what Medicare patients have to pay," says TSCL Executive Director, Shannon Benton. Inpatient stays are covered under Medicare Part A. Inpatients who are hospitalized for three days or more qualify for Medicare's limited nursing home stay coverage. Observation stays are considered outpatient services covered under Part B. Observation patients can have much higher copayments costs and sometimes get hit with huge bills for non-covered drugs. .Town Hall Question: Comprehensive immigration reform would make millions eligible for Social Security benefits based on work done without legal authorization. What is your position on the current policy that allows entitlement based on work done under invalid Social Security numbers, and would you consider supporting legislation that would close this loophole? .Our legislative team was pleased to see the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act advance out of the Ways and Means Committee this week, and we will be sure to monitor its progress as it moves to the House floor. Leaders expect it to be taken up during the week of June 15th, and it is expected to pass there with bipartisan support as well. For updates on the status of H.R. 1190, visit the Legislative News section of our website. .Federal law requires that any reduction in payroll tax revenues going into the Social Security Trust Fund must be replaced dollar-for-dollar with general revenues from the U.S. Treasury. Consequently, a temporary extension of the payroll tax cut will have no effect on the Social Security Trust Fund.