In a statement released by TSCL on Thursday, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson said: "Older middle-income Americans could shoulder a disproportionate share of taxes under these changes, and get pushed more quickly into higher tax brackets than they are today … The changes under consideration may provide some modestly lower federal income taxes at first, but the benefits for many people would be short-lived."."Low COLAs also take a huge toll on overall growth of Social Security income over a retirement," Cates says. "COLAs are like interest, and when COLAs are so low, benefits remain flat. Because benefits are lower now, the amount of increase, if more normal patterns of inflation resume later, will be based on lower benefit amounts, reining in future growth that retirees may have factored into their retirement plans," Cates explains..Currently, the DI trust fund is set to become depleted in late 2016, and legislative action will be needed to prevent a 25 percent cut in benefits for 11 million disabled beneficiaries. According to those at Wednesday's hearing, reallocating funds from the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is the simplest and least controversial way of solving the problem. However, TSCL disagrees since doing so would mean that the OASI trust fund would become depleted four years earlier than currently projected. In our most recent survey of members and supporters, only 1 percent said they support the reallocation of funds from the OASI trust fund to the DI trust fund..In 2012, the GPO reduced the Social Security benefits of nearly 600,000 surviving spouses, who also collect a government pensions, by nearly two-thirds. Nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lost their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes..Are you making the most of your money? A new online website and tool, EconomicCheckUp®, can help you get a better understanding of your financial situation and find personalized, appropriate solutions to save money. You can use it to find work, learn to better manage your budget and explore options to reduce debt, or to explore options to use home equity..Social Security is one of the foundations of our nation and it is based on the principle that if you work hard and play by the rules you will have the stability and security of guaranteed income in your older years. For 75 years, Social Security has been a critical safety net for our nation's seniors and it should be preserved for generations to come. For these reasons, I will keep fighting to provide an accurate measure of inflation for our senior citizens and to strengthen the program..A newly approved drug to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease is drawing criticism for it's ,000 price tag, especially given its lack of proven effectiveness. Aduhelm stirred controversy when the Food and Drug Administration's own expert advisory panel was nearly unanimous in opposing the drug's approval due to mixed results in studies of effectiveness..Indeed, the Social Security Administration does not "promise" a specific amount of benefits, but they do not promise to replace a specific percentage of pre-retirement earnings either. Both benefit amounts and "replacement rates" can change at any time if Congress and the Social Security Administration deem it necessary. Prior to the 1977 changes, the replacement rate was not a stable percentage. For people who retired under the 1972-73 flawed formula, replacement rates grew from 39% to a high of 54%. The new benefit formula led to a lower, more stable replacement rate of about 43%, as well as lower benefits..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.
