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  • Time To Pass An Emergency Cola 2

    The age at which you should start Medicare Part B is still 6Failure to enroll on time can expose you to permanent delayed enrollment penalties, not only for Medicare Part B (doctors and outpatient services) but also for Part D (prescription drug coverage). These penalties which can add 10% - 12% per year respectively to your Part B and Part D premiums for every year you miss enrollment deadlines, for the rest of the time you have Medicare. .The new low comes as COLAs have flat-lined over the past seven years, averaging just 1.2% — less than half the 3% average over the two decades prior to 20The long-term financial impact on anticipated retirement benefits is significant and growing, says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton. "People lose the effect of compounding when benefit raises are at these extreme lows," she explains. "That reduces the Social Security income that retirees may have been counting on over their retirement." .TSCL is highly concerned that the projected decline in Social Security revenues, along with the expected .5 trillion drop in general revenues caused by recent tax cuts, will create growing pressures to cut federal spending on benefits. The most frequently discussed changes include raising the eligibility age for benefits, imposing means testing, and slowing the growth of the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by tying the annual boost to the more slowly-growing chained consumer price index. … Continued

  • H R 5670 Social Security Guarantee Act

    3 Social Security scenarios show vastly different results .The implication that older Americans don't need their Social Security and Medicare benefits, and that seniors are demanding theirs at the expense of the young, is a nasty tactic that's not supported by the facts. According to the Social Security Administration, 50 percent of people age 65 and older have a total income of ,857 —hardly rolling in dough. Yet, those same seniors spend an average of 15 percent of their incomes on healthcare costs — a portion that is rapidly growing. .A 2.5 or 3 percent COLA would be sufficient to boost an average monthly retiree benefit of ,500 by .50 to .00 respectively. That would be enough to cover a substantial Part B premium increase in 2021. … Continued

, Editor .The extra time was needed because although both houses of Congress were finally able to pass the needed legislation, the bill was nearly 5,600 pages in length. It is probable that no member of Congress actually read the entire bill and likely very few Congressional staff members read it either. .Poll after poll has shown the American public supports expanding Social Security. It,s time Congress listens to the American people who want to expand Social Security, not the Wall Street millionaires who want to cut it. .Alexandria, VA (June 14, 2011) Cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) are "overpaying" Social Security recipients, and the government needs to switch to an "improved" method of measuring inflation that will give them a "small trim". That's what deficit negotiators from both sides of the aisle are saying in making the case for the government to switch to a more slowly-growing Consumer Price Index (CPI) for calculating the annual Social Security boost. .In Virginia the law reduced unemployment benefits by half of a person's Social Security check. For example, someone who received ,000 per month in Social Security lost 0, or 5 from each weekly unemployment check. Social Security recipients were rightfully outraged and successfully lobbied the Virginia legislature for repeal of the unemployment "offset" rule. That repeal is now effective in Virginia and numerous other states. Check with your state unemployment commission to learn how Social Security might affect your unemployment benefits. .Last fall, the Government Accountability Office uncovered .3 billion in improper payments from December 2010 to January 2013 made to people who had jobs when they were supposed to be unable to work. To be eligible for Social Security disability, beneficiaries must be unable to work due to a medical condition that's expected to last at least one year, or result in death. The list, however, includes murky afflictions like back pain, depression and other un-measurable afflictions, opening the system to fraud and abuse. .The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is not allowed to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Do you support this policy? .My sister lives alone at age 7She has no children. I've noticed a growing number of changes in her health over the past two years. She seems to have problems with anxiety, and recently became immobilized with fear of evacuating her home, prior to a severe hurricane. Fortunately she was OK, despite four days without power. Home maintenance tasks are becoming a huge burden for her and I worry about her vulnerability to scams. When should single older people start making plans for moving to assisted living? .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.