News

  • Legislative Update September 2018

    The Social Security Fairness Act, if signed into law, would amend the Social Security Act by repealing the government pension offset (GPO) and the windfall elimination provision (WEP). These two provisions unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL believes that Congress should repeal the GPO and the WEP so that dedicated public servants receive the retirement security they deserve. .I applied for Social Security benefits in March 2007 when I was 62 years old. After a month I found a job. On September of 2007, I called Social Security to stop payment of my benefits because I was earning over the limits. I was told that the following year it would be automatically processed. From then on every year I got a few months payment. Now Social Security has informed me that I received too much and my overpayment is ,704. .Home care, though, is much cheaper, overall. The yearly average cost, per person, of a nursing home to Medicaid is ,000 compared with ,000 for home care workers, according to one expert. … Continued

  • Using Generic Drugs Could Save Billions Of Dollars

    Three Ways Congress Can Pay For Notch Reform .We encourage you to tell incumbent Members of Congress who are running for re-election what you expect from the lawmakers who represent you. Outline the changes you support for Social Security and ask the candidates if they are willing to end the tax breaks for the wealthy so that all working Americans can enjoy a more secure retirement. .The Senior Citizens League believes that expanding "means testing" to Part D and freezing the income levels through 2019 is a backdoor benefit cut that will eventually affect even middle-income seniors. The chief reason is that as the economy grows over the next decade, the frozen income thresholds will not increase in-kind, subjecting many more seniors to the "means test." The Senior Citizens League estimates that given different inflation scenarios, individual seniors who made between ,000 and ,000 in 2010 could be subjected to the "means test" in 2019, because of the frozen income thresholds. In addition, if the income thresholds for the "means test" had been allowed to increase, (the case before the PPACA was signed into law), we estimate that they would have increased to an amount between 0,500 to 1,800 in 2019. … Continued

The Senate, where Republicans hold the majority, has yet to make a decision as to whether to defer taxes for its employees. .The Social Security Expansion Act (H.R. 1114) gained one new cosponsor in Congressman Donald Payne (NJ-10), bringing the new cosponsor total up to thirty-one. If signed into law, H.R. 1114 would enhance Social Security benefits by basing COLAs on the CPI-E, increasing monthly checks by around per month, improving the Special Minimum Benefit, applying the payroll tax to income above 0,000, and applying a 6.2% tax on investment income for wealthy individuals. .Each year SSA receives hundreds of millions of employer reported W2s. When Social Security receives a name or SSN on a W-2 that does not match SSA's records, the wage report goes into the ESF while the SSA attempts to reconcile the discrepancy. In recent years the file has been growing at an unprecedented pace—the fastest since the inception of Social Security in 1937. .If adopted, it would provide beneficiaries with a 2 percent benefit boost, base cost-of-living adjustments on the more accurate Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, create a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line, and eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for millions of seniors. It would also extend the solvency of the program through the year 2100 without cutting benefits for current or future retirees. .Mexican consulate officials are informing people about the availability of such benefits.Survivor claims are increasing due to recent violence in Mexico. .While the benefit cuts were negotiated in secret and enacted swiftly with virtually no public debate, Congress passed up the opportunity to close another and far bigger Social Security loophole — one that allows people with the nation's highest wages (including all Members of Congress) to get an enormous tax break, while paying Social Security (FICA) taxes on just a fraction of what they earn. In fact, about 6% of all wage earners, according to the Social Security Administration, pay no Social Security taxes at all on earnings over 8,500. Once they have earned 8,500, these workers get to keep 6.2% of every dollar earned over that amount in wages. .If signed into law, H.R. 973 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – two federal provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. .With respect to cookies: The Senior Citizens League uses cookies to record session information, such as items that visitors add to their shopping cart. .Please, share this video with your friends (use the "Share" button above or copy the URL into an email).