News

  • Q June 2017

    What is it going to cost? Is there a less expensive alternative? .Finally, two new cosponsors – Senator John Hoeven (ND) and Senator Angus King (ME) – signed on to the Concentrating on High-Value Alzheimer's Needs to Get to an End (CHANGE) Act (S. 2387). The cosponsor total is now up to twelve. If adopted, the bill would direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to create programs that would promote early identification, improve support for family caregivers, and provide continuous care for those battling many forms of dementia. .To address this issue, my office put together a two-pronged approach both locally and nationally. First, we held a resources fair in South Los Angeles, focusing on identifying and combatting senior scams with service providers that offered direct assistance for attendees. Second, I introduced a bipartisan resolution to call attention to the barrage of fraud attempts that seniors face nationwide. … Continued

  • Will Biden Address Prescription Drug Prices This Week

    The credit will include children who turn age 17 or who are under that age in 2021. .Unlike income tax brackets that are adjusted for inflation, the income thresholds that subject Social Security benefits to taxation have never been adjusted since Social Security benefits became taxable in 198When the law was first passed, less than 10 percent of all Social Security recipients were estimated to have incomes high enough to be affected by the tax on benefits. But today, even retirees with very modest incomes can be affected by the tax. .Congress has a number of options to pay for the higher benefits that drew strong support in our 2020 Senior Survey: … Continued

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), for an age 65 retiree with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25%-two and one half times greater. .Where Can I Get Help With What Medicare Doesn't Cover? .The order would broaden existing federal requirements for government agencies to prioritize buying supplies for medicines deemed "essential" from U.S. manufacturers, rather than companies in China or elsewhere around the world. .Here are four ways to help you get more from your homeowners coverage: .Social Security is the largest single source of income for older Americans, providing the majority of income for half of retirees, and at least 90% of income for 18% of retirees, according to another think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. .How the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Affecting the Finances of Older Households .The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that would strengthen the COLA and better protect the buying power of Social Security recipients. To learn more, visit . .Need more help? Free one-on-one counseling is available through State Health Insurance Programs (SHIP). To get contact info for your area visit http://shiptacenter.org. ."Social Security benefits simply are not adequate when people with a Social Security benefit of even as much as ,288 per month are at risk of having their entire COLA used to cover rising Part B premiums," says Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "That is what happened in 2018, and that left nothing to cover all other rising household costs," Johnson explains.