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Notch Bill Gains New Cosponsor.The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset were included in the Social Security Act of 1983 to help shore up the Social Security program. I believe this has done little to secure the program and, instead, unfairly reduces the Social Security benefits of millions of public employees. Earlier this year, I reintroduced legislation, H.R. 973, the Social Security Fairness Act, to repeal these arcane policies..There's power in numbers. If you're concerned about your Social Security benefits, share this information with others and encourage them to visit the TSCL website to learn more. To learn how much COLA cuts might cost you, try the TSCL Chained COLA calculator..Some say that if workers pay into the system, then they should be entitled to benefits. But TSCL and the overwhelming majority of seniors who have responded to TSCL's surveys believe that Social Security benefits should not be based on illegal earnings and work credits. Congress is considering big changes to both Social Security and Medicare that will result in reducing benefits and higher costs for retirees in the future. TSCL supports measures that would prohibit Social Security from using earnings for jobs worked without legal authorization to be counted towards entitlement to benefits..Medicare Reform Protecting seniors from sudden and harsh changes to the program..Date Posted: January 2011.President Trump announced last week that there will be a new type of Medicare prescription drug plan that will cap insulin costs at per month for some seniors who have diabetes. While TSCL applauds that as far as it goes, it is woefully short of what is needed..What you propose is an interesting concept. It would be possible to design such cost of living adjustment option in several different ways. For example, the COLA could be calculated based on the national average retiree benefit in the current year. This amount could be adjusted using the current method the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the use of a seniors' consumer price index such as the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. The law could even add a provision that the COLA would never be lower than a certain amount - such as 3%..to make it sustainable. But let's do it in a thoughtful way, so seniors who worked hard and paid their dues aren't suddenly thrown to the wolves. We already have members telling us about elderly friends who are foregoing cancer treatments because they can't afford them and don't want to saddle their surviving spouse with the bills; for such folks, some of the reform proposals would simply be too much to bear."

Topic Private Insurance

This week, TSCL announced its support for the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act, which was introduced by Congressman Alan Grayson as a companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren's S. 2251..Immigration Bill Approved by Senate Committee.Lawmakers in Washington had mixed reactions to Judge Hanen's injunction. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said, "Today's victory is an important one, but the fight to reverse the President's unconstitutional overreach is not over. The President must respect the rule of law and fully obey the court's ruling." Meanwhile, Representative Luis Gutierrez called the injunction a simple "bump in the road." He stated: "The administration intends to take this to the highest court in the nation, where we know justice and fairness will prevail on this executive order." … Continued

Education Education Bill Tracking And Databases

TSCL is highly concerned about the Totalization Agreement since it would likely add billions in costs to Social Security and drain Social Security benefits from American citizens who retire in the future. The Agreement would also increase exponentially the number of foreign workers claiming Social Security benefits. Social Security law currently allows non-citizens, who at some point obtain work authorization and a valid Social Security number, to claim benefits. Under current policy, Social Security uses all earnings regardless of a workers' legal status at the time the work was performed, to determine entitlement to benefits - including earnings while working illegally in the U.S. Such work could have been done while using an invalid or even fraudulent Social Security number. Several Members of Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent the Totalization Agreement from moving forward and that would give Congress more oversight over Totalization agreements with other nations. In addition, anti-Totalization legislation opposes Social Security benefits going to those who worked in the United States while illegal..In a letter that was sent to the twenty-nine conferees on Monday, members of the House Appropriations Committee wrote: "We call on the Budget conference to reach an agreement on the FY2014 and FY2015 spending caps as soon as possible to allow the appropriations process to move forward … If a timely agreement is not reached, the likely alternatives could have extremely damaging repercussions." According to the appropriators, the alternatives include: a government shutdown on January 15th, continued governance by continuing resolution, and a second round of across-the-board spending cuts via the "sequester," which is scheduled to hit in January..Second, every two years, the Taskforce will submit a report to Congress outlining trends and innovations that are impacting the investment for senior investors. This will keep a cop on the beat to make sure we keep up with changes in financial scams. The report will also include recommendations for changes to rules of the SEC or other organizations, and any legislative actions needed to resolve senior investors' problems. … Continued