News

  • Deficit Gets Worse Social Security Cuts Get Attention Feed

    This week, four new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711), bringing the total up to 11The new cosponsors are Reps. Don Young (AK-1), Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Erik Paulsen (MN-3). .Because of the advanced ages of Notch Babies, the cost of correcting the Notch is falling every day. TSCL estimates (in 2006) that the cost of Notch Reform would be about billion, or slightly less than .75 billion per year over the next four years. The billion could be financed without taking additional money from the Social Security Trust Fund. This could be done through cutting wasteful pork barrel spending and reducing fraud and abuse in government programs. In fiscal year 2006 alone, lawmakers spent about billion in pork-barrel projects (8). That doesn't include what the government lost to improper payments, fraud, and abuse. The Government Accountability Office estimated that for fiscal year 2005 government agencies improperly spent more than billion (9). .TSCL is mounting a campaign that strongly urges seniors nationwide to speak out against benefit cuts. "We hope you'll sign and return the petitions we are mailing to supporters against the 'Chained COLA'," says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton. "Chaining the COLA is a 2 billion cut that will reduce your benefits by as much as 9% over the course of a retirement," Benton notes. … Continued

  • Category Legislative News Page 45

    Spending Deal Reached by Congress .As we have previously written, there is a bill that has passed out of the Senate Finance Committee called the Grassley-Wyden bill but Senator McConnell also refuses to bring that bill to the floor for consideration. The Grassley-Wyden bill is co-sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR). .Since you are still working and still under your full retirement age, you might consider reporting your estimated income to Social Security for 2019, and possibly for the months prior to turning your full retirement age next year. However, that would mean that your Social Security benefits would be withheld for even more months, and you might not receive any Social Security benefits at all in 201At the end of the year, you would have to notify Social Security of what you actually earned for 2019, and the calculation would be revised. If too much was withheld, you would get a refund. If not enough was withheld, you would have to pay the difference. Once you turn your full retirement age then, you will be able to earn as much as you want, and not be subject to Social Security earnings restriction rules for new earnings after turning age 66. … Continued

The Notch Fairness Act, legislation that would pay Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926 a choice of ,000 in four annual installments of ,250 or an improved monthly benefit, was recently reintroduced in both the House and the Senate. Members of Congress have not forgotten about you and Notch reform may be closer than anybody thinks. .Although home health workers are one of the fastest-growing segments of the labor market, they typically earn about ,000 per year, often without benefits. .Social Security's combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds will be fully funded until 203At that point, if nothing is done by Congress, Social Security will still have the funds to pay out 79 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues. The Trustees also estimated that Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will be fully funded until 2026, at which point the program will still be able to pay out 88 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues. .In January as my specialist told me goodbye, he gave me a 10-day prescription for a simple .16 antibiotic. Did I get better? Yes, at least for now. While the antibiotic treatment was inexpensive and seems effective at curing the cough, the CT scan and bronchoscopy he ordered last year cost about ,000 before insurance. Would I have done just as well getting that prescription from my primary care doctor and skipping all the rest? Maybe, but how does the patient make that judgment? .But one thing is clear: Congress and the President, whoever his is, will have massive issues to deal with, not the least of which will be the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Our political leaders have to stop avoiding dealing with these tough issues. They can't continue to "kick the can down the road." .Women who earn less are particularly disadvantaged because females tend to live longer compared to men but have to live on less in benefits. The Social Security Administration website tells us that the typical woman receives ,218 each month while the typical man receives ,534 per month — meaning that, on average, men receive 25% more in Social Security benefits. This means that women have much less money to cover their expenses over a longer period. .Now, allergy season has arrived and in the United States as many as 30 percent of adults and 40 percent of kids have seasonal allergies. .Fortunately, H.R. 3 is not the only legislation in either house of Congress that could lower drug prices and accomplish the other things necessary to fix Medicare and Social Security. .In addition to funding the government, the 2,000-page deal will renew health benefits for 9/11 responders, lift a ban on the exportation of crude oil that has been around for nearly fifty years, and delay two Obamacare taxes for two additional years – one tax on medical devices and one tax on high-cost "Cadillac" healthcare plans. As a part of the deal, leaders in Congress also agreed to make permanent a number of tax breaks that have been subject to frequent renewals for decades.