Reduce overpayments, fraud and abuse in the system - increase the frequency of continuing disability reviews. A recent audit found that the Social Security Administration had overpaid nearly half of the people receiving disability benefits over the past decade. Continuing disability reviews are conducted periodically to determine if disability recipients still remain eligible for benefits. According to the Social Security Advisory Board, every spent on reviews returns in savings to the program..Under the proposed House budget resolution, a Social Security "reform trigger" would be pulled in any year the Social Security Trustees determine the 75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security Trust Fund is in deficit. The resolution would also put any legislation on an expedited schedule for passage..Will higher-income workers pay their fair share of taxes to Social Security?.On Tuesday, after five days of debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the "Gang of Eight's" comprehensive immigration reform bill by a vote of thirteen to five. If signed into law, the bill would provide more than 11 million immigrants with a path to citizenship. A number of amendments were adopted by the Senate Committee members, but TSCL was disappointed that they failed to approve an amendment that would have prevented immigrants from earning Social Security credits based on work completed while in the country illegally. Sen. Orrin Hatch sponsored the amendment, and while he ultimately voted in favor of advancing the bill, he did state that it "needs more improvement" before he would consider supporting it on the Senate floor..Grassroots lobbying is perhaps the most effective way to let YOUR Representative and Senators know your opinion. Whether you are calling into a local or Washington, D.C. office; sending a letter or e-mail; signing a petition, or making a personal visit, Members of Congress are the most receptive and open to suggestions from their constituents..COLA cuts: The White House proposes switching to the more slowly - growing measure of inflation, the chained consumer price index, to calculate annual COLAs. The proposal has bipartisan support in Congress. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would cut spending on Social Security about 7 billion over the next ten years and bring in roughly 4 billion in higher taxes. To learn how the proposal would impact your benefits, try TSCL's Chained COLA calculator..Is Congress Getting A Paycheck This Year?.Those born during the Notch period "saved Social Security" by receiving lower benefits for the rest of their lives. They are the generation that fought and sacrificed during World War II. Now, although they receive lower benefits, they are among the senior age group hit hardest by escalating health care insurance premiums and prescription drug costs..White House Holds Aging Conference
