News

  • Legislative Update For Week Ending December 21 2012

    Individuals with incomes below ,000, and whose Part B premiums are automatically deducted from their Social Security benefits, are protected from a reduction in their Social Security benefits when Part B premiums increase more than their Social Security benefits. The provision was triggered twice in recent years, in 2016 when there was no COLA, and in 2017 when the COLA was just 0.3%. .Even under the most optimistic economic projections, the fund could run out of money by 2034, the report said. .For more information about the Social Security Administration Fairness Act, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. For updates on the administration's progress, follow The Senior Citizens League on Twitter. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Octobernovember 2014

    TSCL is disappointed in the repeated attempts of lawmakers to reduce funding for the healthcare of their sickest and poorest constituents in 201TSCL urges all of you to get ready to vote this election year. Start now by checking that your voter registration is up to date, particularly if you have moved recently. .Our next issue of interest this week is Surprise Billing. Surprise billing does not affect seniors on Medicare as much as it affects seniors under age 65 who still have health insurance through their employer or who are paying for their own health insurance. Surprise billing usually refers to expensive, unexpected medical bills that patients receive from hospitals and doctors' offices even when they have health insurance that they expect will cover the majority of treatments cost. Congress has been getting an earful from voters who are very upset about this situation and there seemed to be a fair amount of optimism that legislation dealing with surprise billing may be able to pass. If it does, there could be an effort to attach legislation dealing with drug prices to that bill. .My ex-wife passed away last year at 62, and recently my job ended. She had a good job with a pharmaceutical company for about 20 years. Can I file a claim for widower's benefits based on her account and still get my own retirement benefit later? I'll be 64 in December and I'm looking for new employment. I have not re-married. … Continued

To view our full legislative agenda, click HERE, and to learn more about these issues listed above, click HERE. . It's a seldom-acknowledged fact. Yet it has growing repercussions for U.S. senior citizens. Immigrants who worked here illegally can claim Social Security benefits based on those illegal earnings. Illegal workers often supply employers with fake, or invalid, Social Security numbers (SSNs) that are not authorized for work. When the Social Security Administration receives wage reports under a name and/or SSN that does not match the records, the wage reports accumulate in an "Earnings Suspense File." Later, the illegal worker can file a claim for benefits based on those earnings if he or she can show evidence (like a W2) of employment and earnings. .TSCL's legislative team will be monitoring the tax reform discussions closely in the coming days and weeks, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. In the meantime, we encourage our supporters to contact their Members of Congress to request their opposition to tax reform measures that will jeopardize the health and financial security of older Americans. For contact information, click HERE. .There is widespread support among older Americans for a benefit boost. TSCL surveys have found that 83% of survey participants think Congress should increase Social Security benefits by about 2% of the average benefit, roughly per month (0) in 202Sixty-two percent of survey participants also favor a more generous annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) by tying the annual inflation adjustment to the Consumer-Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), and 50% favor enacting a guarantee that COLAs would never be lower than 3%. .The Senior Citizens League agrees with Senator Brown, and we oppose the proposal since it would negatively impact Social Security's finances and the retirement security of future beneficiaries. In the days ahead, Senator Marco Rubio (FL) and Senator Joni Ernst (IA) are expected to introduce the proposal as legislation, and TSCL's legislative team will monitor its movement closely. For updates, follow TSCL on Twitter or visit the Legislative News section of our website. .Overpayments are recovered by several means. If the beneficiary is still alive, the overpayment may be sent back to the Social Security Administration, or the Administration will withhold benefits until the amount is paid in full. Other means include seizing tax refunds, wage garnishments, settlements and civil suits. When beneficiaries can't afford to repay the overpayment, a lesser withholding amount can be requested, or beneficiaries can contact Social Security to set up a monthly installment plan to repay the amount. Those who don't agree that they have been overpaid can appeal. Learn more about overpayments at SocialSecurity.gov. .Social Security provides the income and access to health care that seniors rely on each and every day. They are benefits my generation has earned – and future generations have been promised. We must work together and make sure our country keeps this promise. .When we contacted the governor's office for evidence to back up DeSantis' comments, press secretary Cody McCloud didn't produce any studies or statistics. Instead, he cited the Florida Department of Health's contact tracing program, writing that it "has not yielded any information that would suggest any patients have been infected while travelling on a commercial aircraft." .Although Congress has often enacted "clean bill" debt limit increases, and may do so again, lawmakers have also paid for increases with other types of changes, including changes to Social Security and Medicare. In a 2015 debt limit deal, Congress ended a benefit claiming option that was one of the few ways married couples could maximize their benefits. The change affected some people who were already 62 and entitled to benefits. It cost those affected, thousands in Social Security income that they were depending on getting.