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  • Social Security Benefit Keeping Rising Costs Probably Not

    If you asked a Social Security recipient for a penny for their thoughts on next year's projected 0.2% cost of living adjustment, they could give it to you, but they'd only have .99 left. .2020 COLA Hold Harmless Issue Brief 9.2020 .TSCL Endorses Social Security 2100 Act … Continued

  • Medicare Part D Will Cost Me More

    First, re-shop your Medicare prescription drug coverage every fall during Open Enrollment season -- and the same goes for Medicare Advantage if you're in one of these plans. Insurance companies often change their offerings year-to-year in ways that can increase drug costs by hundreds of dollars, or make it more difficult to get certain drugs. At the same time, your drug needs may have changed since the last plan selection period in ways that make a plan less beneficial for you. .The Senior Citizens League regularly tracks and estimates the projected annual COLA increase with the release of monthly consumer price index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Inflation data through August are confirming that the COLA will be in the vicinity of 0.2%, forecast by the Social Security Trustees, and that would trigger the "hold harmless" provision," Gibbons says. .It remains to be seen if Congress will go along with this plan. … Continued

COLA Cuts .Be suspicious of products that claim to treat a wide range of diseases. .In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 2575), bringing the total up to eighteen. The new cosponsor is Representative Seth Moulton (MA-6). If signed into law, the BENES Act would simplify the Medicare enrollment process and better inform those approaching Medicare eligibility about their future benefits and the application process. .I am writing for assistance in applying for the Notch Settlement on behalf of my widowed mother who has been a supporter of this cause for several years. She currently draws my deceased father's Social Security since it is greater than what she would receive under her own amounts paid in. My father was born on Sept. 16, 1926, which would qualify her to receive the settlement of ,000. She also has an acquaintance who was in this same situation and she was able to obtain the ,000 in full under her husband's benefits and he was also born in 192We have made several attempts to contact Social Security and they simply will not respond to her request. Is there any assistance you may lend to resolve this issue? .Last week, the two leaders of the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate finally were able to reach an agreement on organizing the Senate for the next two years. An agreement was needed because each party has 50 Senators. Because of that, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is President of the Senate as provided for in the Constitution, will break any tie votes that may occur. That includes the vote to organize the Senate. ."Our example just looked at the salaries and performance pay of just 20 CEOs," notes Johnson. "According to the Social Security Administration, there will be 12 million people who earn above the taxable maximum in 2018," she adds. .Sources: "Latino Voters and the 2010 Election: Numbers, Parties, and Issues, National Council of La Raza, 2010. .Obamacare is not the first government program in which major implementation glitches had disastrous consequences for large numbers of beneficiaries. In 1977 changes that Congress made to the Social Security benefit formula created a major inequity in benefits that cost retirees tens of thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits over their lifetimes. The seniors affected are among the oldest and most vulnerable today. Born during 1917 through 1926, and known as "Notch Babies," they received substantially lower benefits than other seniors close to them in age with almost identical work and earnings records. The name refers to the plunging "V" notch when benefits of Notch Babies are charted on a graph. .Sources: "Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens," Congressional Research Service, July 20, 2006, RL32004.