News

Squeeze your home for cash - If your home can be divided into.Obama Signs Extensions into Law.President George W. Bush proposed overhauling Social Security into a system of private accounts that would be invested in the stock market. The proposal never was passed into law, due to its unpopularity with the public. Before the proposal could gain traction, the Great Recession pounded the stock market, bringing a temporary end to the idea of investing Social Security payroll taxes into private individual retirement accounts. Between the peak of the stock market on October 9, 2007 and the low in March 2009, equity prices fell 50 percent, proving to many that the fixed benefit structure of Social Security is still desirable..Because Medicare is such a crucial program, most members of Congress usually stumble over themselves to protect it. However, if the situation ever presents itself, they will use threats to Medicare to bash the other party..TREA Senior Citizens League was formed in 1993 to protect "earned" Social Security and Medicare benefits. Many TSCL members are affected by the Notch, and rank Notch Reform as their top legislative priority. TSCL is the only national senior citizens action organization to continue to lobby for Notch Reform. To date, TSCL has 1.3 million members and supporters who participate in a number of grassroots lobbying and public education campaigns..For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings before the November elections, call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE. For more sample town hall questions, click HERE..The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports the CARES Act and the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information about these and other bills that have been backed by The Senior Citizens League, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website..Prices charged for the category of drugs known as "specialty medications" are exploding so quickly that they're now a key source of concern for both consumers and Congress. Specialty drugs include those used to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis and rare health conditions. Spending on these drugs under Medicare almost quadrupled in recent years, rising from .7 billion in 2010 to .8 billion in 201On the other hand, spending on the same drugs under Medicaid, the program that provides healthcare for low-income Americans, grew much more slowly over the same period, rising from .8 billion to .9 billion..Gradually, over 20 years, raise the Social Security payroll tax rate that workers and employers each pay from 6.2% of earnings to 7.2%. A worker earning ,000 a year would pay about 50 cents a week more each year, matched by the employer.