How can we strengthen Social Security's financing structure? Take TSCL's 2020 Senior Survey and let us know what you think about some of the leading proposals and thank you for your participation..For the past 16 years, Johnson, has been helping friends and family members with the job of comparing health and drug plans. "It takes patience, but this is likely to be the best return on comparison shopping that you do all year," Johnson says. Here are some pointers:.During the nation's recovery from the 2007- 2009 Great Recession, and Troubled Asset Relief Program bailouts, Social Security and Medicare became frequent targets of deficit cut negotiations. Deficit plans included proposals to reduce annual cost-of-living adjustments by tying it to the more slowly growing chained consumer price index. The Budget Control Act of 2011 led to automatic 2% annual Medicare cuts on payments to providers. "That cut affected all Medicare providers, including hospitals, doctors, nursing staff," Johnson observes. "These are very same providers that are now so dangerously strained by the coronavirus pandemic.".Legislation introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and a similar bill introduced by Representative John Larson would provide a boost in Social Security benefits by about to for most recipients, would increase cost of living adjustments by basing the increase on the CPI-E. It would pay for the expanded benefits and restore long - term solvency to the program by making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes. Under current law those earning more than 8,500 pay nothing on earnings over that amount..Homeowners and renter's insurance: With severe weather-related disasters, homeowner's insurance is one of the top ten fastest rising senior costs. If you haven't done so recently, review your coverage and determine whether it's based on the current value of your home and realistic current replacement costs. Many policies have new deductibles for wind and hurricane damage based on a percentage of your home's value, so take care and look before being tempted to increase deductibles to lower premium costs. Do shop around with other highly rated insurers to see if you can lower your premiums..Earlier this year Goss confirmed this when he estimated the impact of the president's executive actions on Social Security, saying that the initiative would increase the number of people paying into Social Security and it "will also result in additional individuals gaining insured status for benefits from Social Security." Goss estimated that "the executive actions do not change the year in which the combined trust fund reserves would become depleted, but the projected depletion would occur later in the year 2033,.".To learn more about important issues affecting seniors, to sign a petition to Congress, or to find contact information or your Members of Congress, please visit the ACTION CENTER of our website..The Senior Citizens League believes that the on-going Medicare cuts have weakened our ability to respond to national emergencies like COVID-1It has exacerbated a national healthcare worker shortage - including doctors and nurses, as well as the capacity of the nation's hospitals to deal with the sudden large influx of patients generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hospitals, doctors' offices, and nursing homes have required additional federal and state assistance as well as donations from the public, to acquire personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, and gloves..Retirees frequently say that their annual cost-of-living adjustment does not adequately keep pace with rising costs. To learn if this is the case, this study, now in its eleventh year, looks at 40 expenditures that are typical for people age 65 and up, comparing the growth in the prices of those goods and services, to the growth in COLAs.
