News

The "Medicare Notch" could affect a growing number of people if inflation remains unusually low while Medicare premium increases are relatively high. With no COLA in 2011 as the Social Security Trustees predict, people protected by the hold harmless provision in 2009 would continue to pay .40 per month, people who enrolled in 2010 would continue to pay 4 because now they would be protected by hold harmless, but new enrollees in 2011 would pay an estimated 0 per month..Gradually Raising the Payroll Tax Cap: The payroll tax cap has not kept pace with changing income patterns over the past few decades, so it makes sense to adjust the maximum taxable wages to realign them with the originally intended level. Gradually raising the cap to cover 90 percent of the nation's taxable earnings by 2050 would allow it to once again represent the same percentage of that figure that it did as recently as the early 1980s..On Wednesday, Sen. Michael Enzi and Rep. Tom Price Chairmen of the Senate and House Budget Committees released their fiscal 2016 conference budget resolution. Shortly thereafter, House lawmakers passed it along party lines, with a vote of 226-197..This year's study finds that Social Security benefits have lost 30 percent of buying power since the year 2000. This represents a 3-percentage point improvement in Social Security buying power from our 2019 study, which found a loss of 33 percent since 2000. While lower prices are good news in the short term, the deflationary trend suggests a very low COLA in 2021..On Monday, a group of three Senators Amy Klobuchar, John McCain, and Chuck Grassley sent a letter to the White House urging the administration to utilize its executive power to reduce prescription drug costs..TSCL would like to thank Representatives Kristi Noem, Sean Duffy, and Mick Mulvaney for taking the time discuss the issues that matter the most to our members and supporters. TSCL also met with top staffers in the offices of the following Members of Congress: Jim Matheson, Linda Sanchez, Norm Dicks, Steve Stivers, William Keating, Janice Hahn, and Robert Hurt..The most recent data from the Social Security Administration indicate that, in recent years, the ESF grew at an unprecedented pace. Cumulative wages held in the ESF since 1990 now total more than ,022.5 trillion, unadjusted for inflation. A significant portion of these wages could later be claimed and re-instated to valid SSNs if immigrants working illegally gain work authorization and have kept copies of their W2s or other evidence of earnings. Because earnings are used to determine entitlement, this poses a substantial long-term liability to the Social Security Trust Fund and would worsen solvency..Third, extending the payroll tax cut could make a permanent cut more likely. As of 2009, there were seventy–three "temporary" measures in the books - many of them are now considered as good as permanent. Scott Hodge, the President of the Tax Foundation, recently warned lawmakers about the nature of temporary tax cuts. He stated, "This is going to become a permanent law. Once these things get … cooked in to the system, they're awfully difficult to get rid of.".Please be aware that if the federal government shuts down on Tuesday, October 1st, your daily life should NOT be affected. Medicare will continue to operate, and your Social Security benefits will go out on time regardless of whether or not the federal government is running.