News

  • Q February March 2019

    By Noah Y. Kim SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 Kaiser Health News .Canada's order will not prevent Americans from crossing the border to buy cheaper drugs; it doesn't affect sales made by brick and mortar pharmacies, according to a fact sheet released by the Canadian government. .Not thoroughly reviewing the contracts. Make sure you understand what your fees cover and understand built - in price "escalators." For example, cost-of-living adjustments have only increased Social Security benefits by an average of 1.1% over the past 8 years, but rental units may come with automatic price escalators of 5% per year. Facilities often have charges for room and board and separate fees for care. In addition to care fees, there may be medical supplies, medication delivery, laundry and other fees. It's a good idea to have an attorney review the contracts with you. … Continued

  • For Capitol Hill Staff

    (Washington, DC) – Older Americans are not to blame for an exploding federal budget deficit warns The Senior Citizens League. "Congress can't cut taxes by an estimated .7 trillion and then turn around and blame rising deficits on ‘entitlements' and aging," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. .Will Medicare Soon Include Dental Coverage and More? .Upon introducing the bill, Rep. Negrete McLeod said: "For seniors living on a fixed income, this could greatly impact their quality of life … We must protect seniors and ensure those who are most vulnerable do not face greater economic insecurity due to rising medical expenses." By preventing the threshold hike from occurring, her bill would save the average senior nearly 0 a year in qualifying tax deductions. TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 4104, and we look forward to working with Rep. Negrete McLeod in the coming months to help build support for it. In the meantime, we encourage our members and supporters to contact their representatives to request their support for it. To find contact information for your elected officials, click HERE. … Continued

To stay updated on TSCL's legislative efforts and their progress in Congress, visit the Legislative News section of our website. You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter for more frequent legislative updates. .There are three factors that affect your final benefit amount: .In the midst of all this, a new study by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) found that the drop in average wages in recent years coupled with no cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs), and projections of extremely low COLAs, is reducing the amount retirees can count on in Social Security benefits over their retirement. .Now, Members of the House are planning to vote on a potentially revised CR next Wednesday, which means that the Senate will either be called back to Washington for a vote during their upcoming recess, or they will wait until they return at the end of the month, just days before the September 30th deadline. .Under this bill, beneficiaries would get about more a month and the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, or CPI-E, would be used to more accurately measure inflation to ensure Social Security benefits keep up with the rise in costs for food, rent and medicine. .First, the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (S. 521, H.R. 141) gained eight new cosponsors in the Senate and the House, bringing the cosponsor totals up to thirty and 165, respectively. The new cosponsors are: Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Representative Sean Casten (IL-6), Representative Susan Davis (CA-53), Representative Elaine Luria (VA-2), Representative Colin Allred (TX-32), Representative Ed Case (HI-1), and Representative Filemon Vela (TX-34). .But when hold harmless is triggered more widely than usual, as we expect to be the case in 2021, there is no provision of law with which to finance the unpaid portion of Medicare Part B premium increases of the roughly 43 million who are protected by the provision. In the past, Congress has chosen to allow this cost burden to shift to the 30 percent of beneficiaries who are not held harmless. Because the cost is spread over far fewer people, instead of all beneficiaries, those who are not protected by hold harmless pay a far larger share of the costs, thus the huge Part B premium jumps. .This program provides benefits, based on earnings and work history, to workers with disabilities who are under full retirement age. Between 1990 and 2013, enrollment increased 112.5%. Of people receiving Social Security benefits, the number of disabled individuals has grown from 3.2 to 6.7 beneficiaries per 100 covered workers, according to the Congressional Research Service. .Should I Continue to Pay Into Social Security for Other Work I am Doing Now?