News
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Big Issue High Prescription Drug Costs
Federal agencies shut down this week as Members of Congress failed to adopt a stopgap funding measure before the October 1st deadline. In addition, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw one key bill gain support. .Voters have opposed benefit cuts in the past as a way to fix Social Security. But TSCL's new 2016 Senior Survey found that older voters favor some changes that provide the program with more revenue, and modestly higher benefits in the future. .Fifty-one percent said they put off trips to the doctor and other routine medical care, some for months on end. Forty-four percent said they postponed filling prescriptions or were taking less of their medication than prescribed to make it last. … Continued
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Ask The Advisor July 2012
This week, two Members of Congress – Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-21) and Sen. Mark Begich (AK) – re-introduced the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act (H.R. 649 and S. 308), a bill that would base the calculation of Social Security COLAs on the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), and gradually eliminate the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. .A recent study by TSCL, which examines the price changes in the goods and services typically purchased by retirees, found that Social Security benefits lost 30 percent of their buying power since 2000. The loss of buying power jumped 7 percent in just one year, rising from 23 percent in 2016, to 30 percent in 201The steep one-year loss of buying power occurred as costs rose far more rapidly than the COLA and it is an early indication that the COLA for 2018 will likely be higher than usual. .Does Medicare Cover Eyeglasses? … Continued
After a much-anticipated mid-term election and an active "lame duck" session on Capitol Hill, the 114th Congress has officially begun and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) is gearing up for another busy year. With the November elections behind them, lawmakers will finally be able to focus on some of the complex policy issues that sit high on their agendas, like deficit reduction, Social Security reform, and an overhaul of the immigration system. .Changes to federal immigration policy affect the revenues that Social Security and Medicare receive and would also increase the number of people eligible for benefits in the future, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Both Social Security and Medicare face solvency and funding challenges. .Johnson selected 20 companies for her sample and downloaded each company's public 2018 proxy information, which contains Executive Compensation Tables required by the Security Exchange Commission. The analysis uses only the actual salary and performance pay, both of which are subject to Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes up to the limit. No stock awards were included. .Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod represents California's 35th Congressional District encompassing the communities of Bloomington, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, and portions of Fontana and Rialto. .Between age 55 and 64, it's as if our body's warranty expires and everything just crashes. By the time we turn 65 and eligible for Medicare, chances are we may have a chronic health condition that requires regular check-ups. Often, it's insidiously hard to tell whether a problem really is serious or whether it's just a "natural part of growing older," which in any case feels just as crummy. .If signed into law, the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act would amend the Social Security Act to allow individuals receiving "outpatient observation services" in hospitals to be considered "inpatients" so they may satisfy the three-day requirement for Medicare coverage of post-hospitalization care in skilled nursing facilities. Currently, Medicare does not cover skilled nursing care for those who spent time in the hospital under outpatient observation, and they are billed unfairly for necessary medical care. .According to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) recent baseline data for the Social Security Trust Funds, Social Security is expected to receive about 7 billion in payroll tax revenues in 202The CBO further estimates that the Trust Fund would receive billion in revenues in 2021 from the taxation of Social Security benefits. .It's time to address our real problems -- growing inequality and our looming retirement crisis. I have sponsored legislation that would apply the payroll tax to earned income above 0,000 and to investment income. This would extend Social Security's solvency for the next fifty years, and allow us to increase benefits to meet the elderly's higher living expenses. .We need to throw out the stereotype we've had that when you're 65 you quit working and head to the golf course. In the wake of the Great Recession, it doesn't really work financially for most folks. Even though my book has the word "retirement" in the title, about one-third of the chapters deal with careers and work at midlife and beyond -- tips for finding jobs, starting an entrepreneurial venture or launching an encore career focused on social contribution.