News

  • Legislative Update Week Ending June 26 2015

    Two Provisions That Can Reduce Or Eliminate Social Security Benefits .Drug spending nationally increased by 76% between 2000 and 2017, and the costs are expected to increase faster than other areas of healthcare over the next decade as new, expensive specialty drugs are approved, according to the researchers. .Since the start of CPI-E in 1983, the average difference between it and the CPI-W is roughly .25 percentage point per year. Sounds tiny but, like interest, it compounds over time. Had the CPI-E been used to determine COLAs since 2015, your benefit would be about 2% higher today. An average benefit of ,215 per month in 2015 will increase to ,298 per month in 2020. But had the CPI-E been used to calculate the COLAs, that benefit would have been per month more or ,324 in 2020. … Continued

  • S 22 Medicare Dental Benefit Act

    With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights an .Additionally, in less than two years, the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will become insolvent, and approximately 11 million beneficiaries will be faced with a 20 percent cut in monthly benefits. Many lawmakers are hoping to divert funds from the retirement trust fund in order to address the funding shortfall, but according to our recent survey results, less than 1 percent of seniors support this method. Instead, TSCL will be advocating for policy solutions that would tighten the eligibility requirements for the Disability Insurance program and ramp up efforts to fight fraud, waste, and abuse. .Last Wednesday, the Senate's Special Committee on Aging held a hearing titled "Turning 65: Navigating Critical Decisions to Age Well." The committee focused on the social and financial challenges that keep many seniors from living fulfilling lives in retirement. As Chairwoman Collins (ME) stated, "For the next 12 years, 10,000 Americans will turn 65 each day." … Continued

Another Broken Obamacare Promise – This One Hits Medicare .If you delay starting benefits, past your full retirement age, your benefit will grow by 8% of the full retirement benefit amount per year until age 70, at which point your benefit would be about ,50To learn more about your Social Security benefits, and to get estimates visit the Social Security Administration's website at www.SSA.gov. .One new cosponsor also signed on to Rep. Eliot Engel's (NY-16) Guaranteed 3% COLA Act (H.R. 1585) this week. His bill would ensure that the annual COLA is no less than 3 percent. Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17) signed on, and he is the bill's first cosponsor. .The transition has set off dozens of new Medicare scams. To protect yourself from scam here's what to remember. There is nothing you need to do to get your card, and it does not cost anything. It will be shipped to you automatically. Scammers try to call beneficiaries on the phone and falsely claim that to get the new card you must provide Social Security, credit card, or bank account information, or Medicare benefits will be canceled. All of these claims are false. If you get a call like this or if anyone calls unsolicited, and claiming to be from Medicare, HANG UP. This is a scam. Once you get your new Medicare number, don't toss your old Medicare card in the trash — shred or cut it up into small pieces. .Not necessarily. According to a new audit report by the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General, more than 26,000 beneficiaries receiving spousal benefits may be eligible for a higher retirement benefit based on their own earnings, but are not receiving them. Although the Social Security Administration sends notices to widows and widowers who may be eligible for a higher retirement benefit based on their own earnings at full retirement age, and age 70, it does not provide similar notices to spouses who may also be eligible for higher retirement benefits based on their own earnings. .Mandatory programs are those, like Medicare, that are automatically funded every year without passage of annual legislation to pay for them. Congress can, however, waive the PAYGO rules to avoid the payment cuts. .Source: The Full Retirement Age is Increasing, Social Security Administration, July 23, 20http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/ageincrease.htm .In the meantime, TSCL will be keeping a close eye on the budget negotiations since they will impact the funding of the Social Security and Medicare programs. We will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website, and on our Twitter page. .Holiday Recess Begins