Representative John Larson introduced H.R. 860 on January 30, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means..Congress recently took action to head off a looming 19% cut in Social Security disability benefits received by nearly 10.8 million disabled adults and their dependents. The Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund was projected to run low of funds by the end of 2016, but changes contained in the recent debt limit budget deal include a number of provisions to strengthen program financing. Many of them had the support of TSCL..Gradually, over 10 years, eliminate the cap on earnings that are taxed for Social Security. This would mean that the approximately 6% of workers who earn more than the 8,500 cap in 2015 would pay into Social Security throughout the year like other workers. In return they would get slightly higher benefits..On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy met with four expert witnesses to discuss several options for strengthening the Social Security Program. Chairman Sherrod Brown opened the hearing by saying, "A few years ago … all of the conventional Washington wisdom was that we would have to cut the program. Today, not only are cuts to Social Security deeply unpopular, but we are now debating how much we need to expand the program.".Virtually all low-income programs such as food stamps, rental assistance and Medicare Extra Help, come with complex eligibility rules and income restrictions that are tied to a percentage of the federal poverty level, such as 100%, 135% or 150%. If your income is right on the borderline, and you get a high COLA boost, that could potentially cause you to see trims to benefits from programs that have income restrictions. Some individuals might lose access to certain low-income benefits altogether because the COLA boosts their income over the limit..A new analysis by The Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups, indicates that changes the government has already made in the late 1990s to how it calculates the CPI have resulted in cutting the Social Security benefits of today's seniors by about 7 percent since 2000. Social Security recipients, who retired with average monthly benefits of about 6 in 2000, lost 7 this year alone, and about ,293 in COLA growth over the past twelve years. According to the analysis, the CPI changes that became effective by 2000 will cut more than ,000 of Social Security income from individuals who retired with average benefits over a 25-year retirement. "Chaining the COLA would further deepen the loss of benefits," says Larry Hyland, Chairman of TSC.Search for health and drug coverage based on the drugs you actually take: Plans vary tremendously on the price of prescription drugs, and you can spend hundreds of dollars more per year than you need to. Do your search for health or stand-alone drug plans by inputting all the drugs you take to get your best choice of plans for you at the lowest cost. Make a list of each drug that you take, dosage, and the amount you take in a month or 90 days if by mail order. Spelling and dosage details are important to get most accurate results. The Medicare plan finder will pull up a list of plans showing the lowest costing plan first. It's important to check the reasons why the plan costs less, including whether the plan covers ALL your prescription drugs. When checking plan cost details, check the difference in prescription prices between standard retail pharmacies and mail order..Higher taxes and reductions to benefits are expected to top the discussions of the next Congress. If we intend to protect our Social Security and Medicare benefits, it's going to be up to us to play a major role in crafting the solution. We're out of time for partisan stand offs. This is not an "us versus them" situation. This is a "we" as in "we are all in the same boat." Please join TSCL in helping to be part of the solution. To learn how you can take part click the links to: sign a petition, make a donation, or become a member of TSCL..a more generous cost-of-living adjustment by calculating the annual boost using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly,
