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Most seniors are aware of the impact of the consumer price index on COLAs. But switching to the more slowly growing "chained" CPI, if applied government-wide, would be far more reaching than Social Security cuts alone. In every aspect where applied, seniors would receive less in benefits and pay more in higher taxes. The following chart illustrates:.Meal and nutrition programs.The object is to provide at least 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by January 202In most of the agreements with the drug companies, the Department of Health and Human Services says the vaccines will be given to the American people for free if part of a vaccine campaign. Once the vaccines are approved, the program is intended to quickly deliver them to as many people as possible. The federal government has said it will cover the cost of delivery, but health-care providers can charge to administer the vaccine..In 2012, the GPO reduced, by nearly two-thirds, the Social Security benefits of nearly 600,000 surviving spouses who also collect a government pension. Nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes for years..It depends. If you meet the requirements you're OK to delay. It's important to keep in mind that failure to enroll in Medicare on time is one of the most costly mistakes that working Medicare-age seniors make. You can wind up getting hit with late enrollment penalties that you'll have to pay every year for the rest of your life. Those penalties could drain thousands in extra Medicare costs from you and your wife's savings and income.."Immigration Bill Splitting House G.O.P.," Jonathan Weisman and Ashley Parker, The Washington Post, April 4, 2014..Individuals with incomes above ,000, or couples with incomes above 0,000..There are several ways it happens. One has to do with the type of SSN that was used for employment. The 2004 law requires work authorization in order to claim Social Security. But the law pertains only to individuals who received their SSN after January 1, 200If the individual was issued an SSN prior to January 1, 2004, like the 7 million non-work SSNs issued prior to 2003, the 2004 law prohibiting payment of Social Security does not apply. According to the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office, that group does not need to have ever received legal work authorization in order to claim benefits - they may have worked illegally their entire careers..With unemployment still 5.4%, and less payroll tax revenue to finance the benefits of swelling Social Security rolls, how is the program's financing faring during our 2021 economic recovery? The Social Security Trustees are expected to soon release a much-anticipated annual report that gives us our first real glimpse of how the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected Social Security's retirement, survivors and disability programs in 2020.