News

  • Hearings On The Hill 4

    But critics say the failure to make in-person checks prevented states from identifying lapses at a crucial time. The fact that family members were blocked from visiting their relatives — a policy intended to prevent the virus from entering the facility — removed another source of accountability in homes, some of which ended up having more than half of their residents stricken with the coronavirus. .Sources: "Miami Actor, Cable Station Founder, Arrested In Medicare Fraud Takedown," Jay Weaver, The Miami Herald, May 14, 2013. .Long-term solvency of the Social Security program is essential. In 2010, due largely to the economic downturn and a stagnant recovery, the Social Security Trustees estimated that the trust funds ran a cash deficit of billion and had to begin redeeming the U.S. government bonds held in the trust funds. Although the Social Security Trustees predict the trust funds will remain solvent, and that benefits can be paid in full until 2037, that assumes an unprecedented level of transfers from the general revenues. Leading economists, in the U.S. and worldwide, have said that the level of debt this would require risks undermining the stability of our economy. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending December 12 2014

    A new Medicare cost-saving rule that was launched late in 2020 will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures and could potentially raise costs for Medicare recipients. According to an article by Susan Jaffe, of Kaiser Health News, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has for years classified 1,740 surgeries and other services as "so risky" for older adults that Medicare would pay for them only when people were admitted to the hospital as inpatients. But under the new rule, CMS is beginning to phase out that requirement. By the end of 2023, these "inpatient only services" which includes complicated procedures such as heart and brain operations, is scheduled to be gone. .Benefit reductions due to your age. — Since you were born in 1952, your age for receiving full, unreduced Social Security benefits is 6That holds true for survivors benefits, as well as for your own retirement benefit. So assuming you start benefits in December at age 64, the amount you would receive for starting benefits before your full retirement age will be reduced — almost 10%. (When you start benefits early you get less but you theoretically receive them over a longer period of time.) But that's not the only reduction. .The Senior Citizens League supports your right to avoid unwanted direct mail. If you no longer want to receive mailings from The Senior Citizens League, you can opt out by contacting us at comments@ and telling us, "No mail please." Be sure to include your name and mailing address as it appears on the mail you are receiving from The Senior Citizens League. … Continued

Under current law, if an illegal immigrant eventually gets a work-authorized Social Security number through "guest worker" immigration legislation, or work covered under the Totalization Agreement, that worker could then eventually apply for Social Security benefits once eligibility requirements are met. Regardless of citizenship status, once an immigrant has a "work-authorized" Social Security number, that person may claim credit for all earnings, even those earned while working illegally. .TSCL believes that the current WEP unfairly reduces the benefits of public servants, and we are pleased that support on Capitol Hill has continued to grow for the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act. .Second, one new cosponsor – Representative Bradley Byrne (AL-1) – signed on to the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), bringing the total up to 195 cosponsors. If adopted, this critical bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. Its passage would ensure that retired public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. .TSCL has not given up our goal of Notch reform. In recent months we have been working with long-term Notch reform allies in Congress to ensure that Notch Babies', needs are protected from deficit reduction plans that would affect people who are currently retired. .During the pandemic, non-emergency elective hospital procedures were temporarily stopped to lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission, to preserve scarce personal protective equipment and to keep hospital beds available for COVID care. According to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, hospitals across the country have taken a major hit to their normal operating income. The American Hospital Association recently reported the average loss of revenues to U.S. hospitals of .7 billion per month from March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020. We don't yet know how much more hospitals have lost through the end of 2020. .Surveys have found that public opposition to cutting benefits is widespread, but there is support for changes that would make Social Security payroll taxes more equitable. According to TSCL's 2017 Senior Survey, 73% of survey participants support abolishing the taxable maximum cap and to apply the full 12.4% payroll tax to all earnings. .TSCL Urges Action on Debt Ceiling .What is the current status of the Notch issue? .Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-21) introduced H.R. 1811 on April 15, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and to the Committee on Education and the Workforce.