Under current law, Social Security beneficiaries whose total income exceeds specific thresholds are required to claim a portion of their Social Security benefits as taxable income. Depending on income, as much as 50% to 85% of Social Security benefits could be taxable. A bulletin from the Social Security Administration estimates that the median share of benefits owed as tax for most retirees would be far less than that, however, remaining close to 12% over the period 2020 to 2050..Verma has an extensive background working with the Medicaid program, but she lacks experience working on complicated Medicare issues. Should Republicans in Congress successfully repeal the ACA as planned, she will oversee the transition period, as well as the implementation of a possible replacement plan. Verma will also be tasked with administering the Medicare program as it navigates a funding crisis caused by the ACA's expected repeal..What that means, in plain language, is the President is suggesting that for an unspecified "short term," taxes paid by workers into the Social Security system be suspended, further weakening the Social Security system..A growing number of Social Security recipients are affected by the tax, because the income thresholds are fixed, rather than adjusted annually, like income brackets. Because of this, the number of Social Security recipients who are hit by the tax has increased substantially over the years as incomes increased..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..Years ago, drug legislation was passed that made importation of FDA approved drugs from Canada legal, but the Department of Health and Human Services secretary was required to certify the safety of the drugs. So far, no HHS secretary has been willing to do so, despite regular efforts to get importation going..When the Senate does return on Sept. 8 the first thing on its agenda will be to continue confirmation hearings on President Trump's nominations of judges to the federal judiciary. But the Senate has yet to pass one funding bill for the federal government for FY 2021 which begins Oct. 1..Ideally the Obama Administration should have the capacity to update consumers' subsidy information. But by late summer, they had not yet gotten that part of the system built. Even if you were to receive the same amount of premium subsidy that you received this year, that's likely to cause you problems. Here's why:.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.
