News

The suppressed growth in Social Security benefits not only creates ongoing benefit adequacy issues for retirees, but also Medicare budget problems when the COLA is not sufficient to cover rising Part B premiums for large numbers of beneficiaries. When the dollar amount of the annual Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the dollar amount of an individual's annual cost of living adjustment, the Social Security benefits of about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by the hold-harmless provision in the Social Security Act. The Medicare Part B premium of those individuals is reduced to prevent their net Social Security benefits from being lower than the year before..The piece of the law under discussion relates to the way the government subsidizes companies that provide prescription drug coverage to retirees. When Congress created Medicare Part D, it also created an incentive for employers to continue providing prescription drug coverage to their retirees. Under current law, the government subsidizes 28% of the costs that employers incur from providing prescription drug coverage to retirees who are at least 65 and Medicare eligible. The companies that receive the subsidy are then allowed to deduct 100% of the costs of providing coverage to their retirees from their taxes - this deduction also includes the 28% subsidy that the government provides. The new healthcare law keeps the 28% subsidy intact but starting in 2013 it removes the ability of companies in computing their taxes to deduct the subsidy they receive from the government..Selling a home to move to lower-cost housing, or as part of a move to assisted living, involves plenty of cleaning, repairs, and maybe some renovations. To get the most money, and to recover your repair and renovation investment, focus on improvements that are either necessary to sell your home, or those that will help get you a higher price. While every home is different, here are six home improvements that tend to get the best return:.When an individual files a claim for benefits, the Social Security Administration searches its records for every wage report connected with that individual to determine entitlement. The search even includes earnings from jobs worked prior to legal authorization, under fake, invalid or stolen Social Security numbers if the applicant kept evidence of such earnings like pay stubs or W2s..Beware of a nationwide utilitybill payment scam. Under the scam, a customer may be contacted in person, through fliers, social media or text messages. The scammers claim that President Obama will pay a person's utility bills through a new federal program..This week, one new cosponsor Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act, bringing the total up to 16If signed into law, it would extend the solvency of the Social Security trust funds responsibly, without cutting benefits for current or future retirees. The bill currently has more cosponsors than any other comprehensive Social Security reform bill to date, and we hope lawmakers in Congress will consider it seriously in the months ahead..But that's not all. Congressional Democrats also want to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare but that goal is running into resistance from powerful health industry lobbies..This estimate is still just that - an estimate. The 2020 COLA is based on CPI data through September 2019 and won't be announced until October. Inflation could start going up again, but with the first five months of data so low, we are likely to see another low COLA in 2020..This week, four congressional committees began crafting legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a courtesy confirmation hearing to question Congressman Tom Price, the nominee for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services position.