News
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Social Security Medicare Questions June 2014
"This year's zero COLA combined with next year's insufficient increase will have a devastating impact on the long term adequacy of Social Security benefits for millions of Americans … we hope that you will act swiftly and responsibly before the end of this year," the letter stated. .Assistance in paying for low cost home weatherization to make your home more energy efficient. .If adopted, his bill would: provide beneficiaries with a 2 percent boost in benefits, improve the adequacy of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by basing it on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), create a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line, and cut taxes for millions of seniors who pay taxes on a portion of their Social Security benefits. The bill would also extend the solvency of the Trust Funds by applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000 and gradually increase the payroll tax rate from 6.2 percent to 7.4 percent. … Continued
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Benefit Bulletin January 2017
To learn more, please visit . ."Even though Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket drug costs are the fastest growing and biggest financial challenge in retirement, that growth is not accounted for in the annual COLA," Johnson says. The consumer price index used to calculate the COLA for retirees reflects the spending pattern of young urban workers, and explicitly excludes people over the age 6But younger workers don't get Medicare, and spend a much lower portion of their incomes on healthcare. .On Wednesday, the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee met to discuss fraud, waste, and abuse within the Disability Insurance (DI) program. Subcommittee members heard from two expert witnesses – Sean Brune of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Seto Bagdoyan of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – on recent progress the administration has made in detecting and preventing fraud. … Continued
Unlike many other organizations TSCL accepts no government funding -- this leaves us free to truly represent the interests of supporters like you. .But if mature workers are not working and earning, they can't make critical life investments in themselves, their families, and their futures. .The findings come as the nation finds itself in a growing a retirement crisis. Even before the coronavirus - caused recession, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that about 48 percent of households headed by people aged 55 and over had no retirement savings. That situation has been made even worse in 2020 and 2021 as older workers have lost jobs or seen their work schedules reduced due to the pandemic. .With about 1 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Located just outside Washington, D.C., its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. .Congress is now back in session but they will not begin considering new legislation for a few days. They are in the process of organizing for a new session and, of course, they will be involved in the electoral college process of electing a new President starting, but perhaps not concluding, on Wednesday. .If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to prevent and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Among other things, it would enact stronger fraud penalties, curb mistaken payments by the agencies, phase out the ineffective "pay and chase" practice, reduce the theft of physician identities, and improve the sharing of fraud data among states, agencies, and programs. .Easier Said Than Done: Public Unconvinced That Medicaid Spending Should Be Cut .Key Bills Gain Support in Congress .In the months ahead, TSCL will continue to advocate for these and other legislative efforts that would improve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare without cutting benefits for seniors.