News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending November 21 2014

    Lawmakers remained in their home states and districts this week for the August recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 8th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will attend local events and hold town hall meetings, giving constituents an excellent opportunity to voice their concerns and have their most pressing questions answered. .Indeed, the Social Security Administration does not "promise" a specific amount of benefits, but they do not promise to replace a specific percentage of pre-retirement earnings either. Both benefit amounts and "replacement rates" can change at any time if Congress and the Social Security Administration deem it necessary. Prior to the 1977 changes, the replacement rate was not a stable percentage. For people who retired under the 1972-73 flawed formula (those born 1913 through 1916), replacement rates grew from 39% to a high of 54%. The new benefit formula led to a lower, more stable replacement rate of about 43%, as well as lower benefits. .At the time of writing this week's update, neither chamber had voted on the omnibus spending bill, but its passage is expected before funding runs out on Tuesday, December 22nd. A vote in the House is scheduled for Friday morning, and lawmakers in the Senate will likely take it up shortly thereafter, potentially as early as Friday afternoon. President Obama signaled his support for the spending package on Wednesday, which means he plans to sign it into law if it is sent to his desk. … Continued

  • Hearings On The Hill 4 2

    In a statement that was released on Thursday, Mary Johnson – Policy Analyst for The Senior Citizens League – said: "The bottom line is that Medicare Part B premiums rise several times faster than COLAs, and those premiums are now high enough to cause the net Social Security benefits of millions of people to remain flat for years at a time … This would make the fourth year in a row that this particular group has not seen a boost in their net Social Security benefits." .The Part D initial coverage limit is ,960 this year. "That includes what both the beneficiary and the drug plan must pay, " explains TSCL's Chairman Ed Cates. Once in the doughnut hole, beneficiaries are on the hook for 65% of the cost of generic drugs, or 45% of the cost of brand name drugs. Medicare beneficiaries must spend a total of ,700 out of pocket in drug costs for the year, before catastrophic coverage kicks in. "Even then there's still some additional smaller co-insurance payments," Cates adds. .By Representative Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA-35) … Continued

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to discuss improvements to the Medicare payment system. Currently, reimbursements are determined by the SGR, a flawed formula that regularly calls for steep pay cuts to physicians and threatens seniors' access to medical care. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed a strong interest in repealing and replacing the formula in the coming months. ."AbbVie is one of 33 member companies of the industry's top lobbying group, PhRMA, which raised nearly 0 million from membership dues in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. But AbbVie's political action committee is one of just two pharmaceutical company PACs to donate the maximum ,000 to PhRMA's federal PAC since 2013, a potential indicator that AbbVie was highly motivated to influence legislation," according to a report on Salon.com. .For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will hold town hall meetings over the holiday recess, contact their offices. You can find contact information for all Members of Congress in the ACTION CENTER of our website. .My husband recently lost his job in a company re-organization. I was getting my healthcare benefits through his employer. He is 64 and I'm 6I'm still working, but coverage through my employer is much higher than we paid previously. Can you explain our options at this point? Neither one of us has started Social Security. .Source: James W. Kelley & Joseph R. Humphreys, "Congressional Intent Concerning The Notch Issue: Legislative Background of the 1977 Social Security Amendments," 1994.Source: Congressional Research Service May 24, 1999 .The following article is from "Kaiser Health News": ."The loss of a job not only means the loss of income, but it also can mean the loss of healthcare benefits, and both employee and employer contributions to retirement accounts," Johnson notes. Depending on how long older workers remain out work, a growing number may turn to Social Security and file claims for benefits earlier than originally planned. That can mean permanently reduced benefits for people who haven't reached their full retirement age. .What you can do: Contact your Members of Congress and tell them to enact legislation that would ensure you get an emergency COLA in 202Let's tell our Members of Congress that you are asking to receive the 2.5% COLA which was already estimated in the January 2020 Social Security budget baseline by the Congressional Budget Office. You can send an email to your Congressman at www . .This week, lawmakers involved in talks to permanently repeal and replace the SGR revealed that a temporary pay-patch will likely be necessary. Those serving on three committees – the House Ways and Means Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee – have successfully negotiated a legislative compromise, but they've been struggling for weeks to come up with offsets that will cover the cost of the 8.4 billion bill.