News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending January 5 2018

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation have boosted previous estimates and now say that switching to the chained consumer price index (C-CPI) will cut Social Security and other federal retirement benefits by 8 billion and increase taxes by 2 billion over the next 10 years. The loss to beneficiaries would compound over time and grows deeper each year as illustrated in the following chart. As seniors grow older and more likely to develop costly health conditions, their Social Security benefits would become less adequate to cover rising costs more quickly. .Government agencies will identify themselves. .The program is not meant to pay for all your energy costs, and in many places only provides assistance for your main heating source. For example, if you heat with oil, your local program may approve delivery of only a specific amount of heating oil and that may only fill a portion of your fuel tank. The amount of help you get depends on where you live, your income, your energy costs and needs, and your family size, in addition to other factors such as your age. In addition, in many areas of the country, the program runs out of funding quickly and operates on a first come, first serve basis. … Continued

  • Category Congressional Corner Page 9

    Despite claims that the proposal would have no cost for the Social Security program, research shows that it would put a financial strain on the Social Security program. According to a report released this week by the American Action Forum, this family leave proposal would have a net cost of around 6 billion, and it would advance the insolvency of the Social Security Trust Funds by around six months. .This week, five new cosponsors signed on to the Notch Fairness Act (H.R. 1001). They are: Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2), Collin Peterson (MN-7), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Elton Gallegly (CA-24), and Christopher Smith (NJ-4). These cosponsor additions bring the total up to 35. .Could you tell me the advantages and disadvantages of life insurance once we start Social Security? Doesn't Social Security pay widow's benefits? Do we really need life insurance if we have a (401)k and IRA savings? … Continued

Generations have watched big-government, socialist systems fail, one after another, in countries experimenting with soviet-style, centralized planning. Medicare-for-all would be no different, leading to longer wait times and lowered standards of care at an unsustainable cost to the American taxpayer. .This does not mean you should stop using hand sanitizers when you cannot thoroughly wash your hands. It just means you would be wise to throw out any of the above listed hand sanitizers if you have them. .Finally, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711) also gained one new cosponsor this week. Rep. Jared Nadler (NY-10) signed on to it, bringing the cosponsor total up to 10That bill, if signed into law, would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) while establishing a new formula for the non-covered earnings of future retirees. It would also create a separate formula for retirees who are currently affected by the WEP. TSCL believes H.R. 711 is a sensible step forward, and we hope it continues to gain strong support in the months ahead. .First, re-shop your Medicare prescription drug coverage every fall during Open Enrollment season -- and the same goes for Medicare Advantage if you're in one of these plans. Insurance companies often change their offerings year-to-year in ways that can increase drug costs by hundreds of dollars, or make it more difficult to get certain drugs. At the same time, your drug needs may have changed since the last plan selection period in ways that make a plan less beneficial for you. .Senate Subcommittee Considers Family Leave Proposal .This week, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) announced its support for new legislation that would strengthen and expand the Social Security program, and the federal government reopened after lawmakers and President Donald Trump approved a short-term continuing resolution (CR). ."Official" Poverty Measure Undercounts The Number Of Older Americans Living In Poverty .For many lawmakers and citizens, this news was disturbing but not surprising. This is exactly why Republicans are demanding that we stop raiding the current program and reform of the system for future generations. Doing nothing is not an option. The status quo will mean the end of Medicare as we know it. Yet instead of putting forth new ideas to reform the program and use the savings to shore up Medicare for future generations, Democrats transferred 0 billion out of Medicare to fund their latest entitlement program, the massive health care law. .The new bill would reform the health care system in several ways if adopted. It would remove the ACA's individual and employer mandates, modify tax credits so they would be based on age instead of income, create a new penalty for individuals who do not maintain continuous health insurance coverage, and allow health insurers to charge older Americans five times more than they charge younger folks for their coverage, making health insurance unaffordable for millions of seniors who are not yet eligible for Medicare.