Talk in Congress about Social Security boost, maybe but not for awhile.Meanwhile, the House of Representatives announced they will also be taking the usual August recess if they get needed legislation passed before then..Alexandria, VA - August 20, 2012 -- A new immigration policy recently launched by the Obama Administration could backfire when senior voters head for the polls this fall. Seventy-seven percent of Senior Americans do not agree with the new "deferred action" immigration policy, according to a new poll conducted by The Senior Citizens League,one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. "The new policy would provide as many as 1.2 million illegal immigrants with a path to Social Security benefits and add huge new future liabilities to the program," says TSCL Chairman Larry Hyland..Drug prices in the U.S. are much higher than in other developed countries, because there are no federal laws regulating prices. In fact, the law specifically forbids Medicare from negotiating prices on behalf of its beneficiaries. Allowing the importation of prescription drugs from countries such as Canada, where drugs are less expensive, has the potential to lower drug costs for both U.S. consumers and the federal government..We will all know if they were able to reach and agreement and get their job done by the end of this coming Friday. However, President Trump's position on this is not clear. While Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has been in on the discussions of the legislation the President has not said where he stands..The estimated depletion date for the Medicare Part A trust fund is 202At that time, program income will be sufficient to pay 90% of total scheduled benefits. The Part B trust fund is financed differently, with premiums and general revenue funding changing each year to reflect projected spending, so Part B is expected to be adequately financed "for the next 10 years and beyond."."While hold harmless is very valuable protection, the lack of an adequate COLA to begin with, and rapidly growing Part B costs, will keep millions of beneficiaries stuck in a no-growth rut in 2018," Johnson says. The Senior Citizens League is advocating legislation that would provide a more fair and adequate COLA, by tying the annual adjustment to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. Projections for The Senior Citizens League show that by using the CPI-E, Social Security benefits would be about 9 percent higher over 25 years. A benefit of ,300 in 2017 would be about 2 per month more using the CPI-E at the end of the 25 year period instead of the current method. To learn more, visit..In addition, one new cosponsor Senator Kamala Harris signed on to the Social Security Expansion Act from Senator Bernie Sanders. The cosponsor total is now at three in the Senate. If adopted, the bill would strengthen and expand the Social Security program by basing COLAs on the CPI-E, increasing monthly checks by per month, and improving the Special Minimum Benefit. It would cover the cost of these changes and strengthen the solvency of the trust fund by applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000 and applying a 6.2 percent tax on investment income for wealthy individuals..The President should not sign or send the current totalization agreement with Mexico to Congress. Should the President nevertheless do so, Congress should disapprove the agreement.
