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Transportation: Info and assistance in coordinating shared, non-medical transportation services in your area.."The tax is a burden for middle class seniors," Cates says. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 52 million Social Security beneficiaries paid 6.7% of their Social Security benefits as income tax in 2014 and projects that will rise in the future to 10% or more..The 1977 benefit formula changes affected workers who turned 62 and became eligible for benefits just two years later, in 1979 and thereafter. To protect people close to retirement from abrupt benefit cuts, and to phase in the benefit reductions, a 5-year transitional formula was provided affecting people born from 1917 through 192That group had their benefits figured two different ways using both the transitional benefit formula, and the new benefit formula. People received the higher of the two benefits..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..While a multitude of new mandates and burdensome administrative requirements have been layered on over the past several years, payments to physicians have not only failed to keep pace with inflation, they have, in some cases, decreased in real terms..TSCL recently delivered letters to every Member of Congress calling on them to support legislation that would provide a more fair and adequate COLA. "Congress created the automatic COLA in 1972 to help benefits keep up with inflation. But according to our research, COLAs are failing to keep up with the rising costs seniors are facing. Since 2000 Social Security benefits have lost 30 percent of their buying power, and in the last year alone they have lost 7 percent.".If adopted, the Audiology Patient Choice Act would improve Medicare coverage for hearing services that are performed by licensed audiologists. According to the bill's sponsors, under current law, Medicare does not recognize audiologists as providers of health-related hearing services, and it will only reimburse audiologists for diagnoses when they are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners. The Audiology Patient Choice Act would ensure access to a full range of hearing services provided by licensed audiologists..Committees Craft ACA Repeal Legislation.TSCL would like to remind you to contact your Members of Congress to request their support for fair Social Security cost-of-living adjustments and other key issues. To find contact information for your Members of Congress, to learn more about key issues affecting seniors, or to sign a petition, please visit the ACTION CENTER of our website.