News

  • Update For Week Ending August 7 2021

    One of the concerns last fall and winter was knowing whether someone might have the seasonal flu, a cold, or the coronavirus. As it turned out, seasonal flu was almost non-existent, and colds were also way down. .Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned lawmakers that the suspension of the debt limit would expire on March 15th. That deadline has come and gone without congressional action, and the Treasury Department is now using "extraordinary measures" – like postponing contributions to retirement accounts for federal employees – to prevent a default. .More than 55% of participants in TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey support federal programs that help with energy assistance. … Continued

  • Issues Prevention Of Fraud Waste Track Bills

    Unlike AARP, The Senior Citizens League is a true grassroots organization. Almost one hundred percent of our revenue comes from individual donations, and we do not sell any products to our members. We even refuse outside advertising in our materials. Our sole focus is on education and protection of the Social Security and Medicare benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. .Beginning in 2017, monthly premiums for Part B and Part D would increase by fifteen percent for those with higher incomes. If the plan were adopted, the income threshold would drop from ,000 to ,000, and it would not be adjusted for inflation until one-quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries qualify to pay the increased premiums. .What is the ,000 Lump-Sum Settlement? … Continued

TSCL is mounting a campaign that strongly urges seniors nationwide to speak out against benefit cuts. "We hope you'll sign and return the petitions we are mailing to supporters against the 'Chained COLA'," says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton. "Chaining the COLA is a 2 billion cut that will reduce your benefits by as much as 9% over the course of a retirement," Benton notes. .Sources: "Social Security The Notch Issue," GAO-HRD-88-62, March 1988, page 1Financial Management, Challenges in Meeting Requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act, GAO-05-417, March 200"Annual Statistical Survey 2004, Social Security Administration, Table 5.A.1. .When asked whether the waiting periods for disability and Medicare benefits should be eliminated, 67% of TSCL's poll participants support eliminating the waiting periods for both Social Security and Medicare. Only 18% supported keeping both waiting periods, 9% supported eliminating the 2-year wait for Medicare alone, and 5% supported eliminating the 5-month wait for Social Security alone. .If you take one or more prescriptions, you may be shocked to learn how much you can save by comparing plans based on the prescriptions you use and switching drug plans, when you find a better match. This is an important financial habit to get into EVERY year. Drug plans routinely raise premiums and co-pays, and invariably what your best choice was in 2006 no longer holds true today. Although everyone's savings experience will be different based on the particular prescriptions they take, consider these cases from my files**: .Social Security Notch Legislation Introduced .Congress Still Can't Get Its Work Done .In a normal year the two-week period around Christmas and New Years Day is a slow news period. But, as with so much else, that was not true this year. .Instead, locality pay increases are intended to keep the salaries of current federal workers competitive with private sector jobs in the same locality pay area. The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures non-federal compensation in a particular market and compares it to federal pay for federal employees who perform similar work in the same region. The gap between the two helps determine the locality pay adjustment for a specific area in a given year. .TSCL believes that these two provisions unfairly reduce the earned benefits of millions of seniors each year. We were pleased to see support grow for the Social Security Fairness Act this week.