Any Toll Free call to Congress on the number will be paid for by The Senior Citizens League..The confirmation of Marilyn Tavenner marks a major milestone for CMS, and like those Senators who voted in her favor, TSCL is hopeful that her leadership will provide the Medicare program with increased stability..To allow this situation to languish so long is a national disgrace when there's a surprising high level of bipartisan support for Notch Reform through "The Notch Fairness Act." This legislation would allow Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926 a choice between a lump-sum of ,000 payable over a four-year period, or a higher monthly benefit. As of this writing, more than 94 cosponsors have signed on..Currently, COLAs don't keep up with typical retiree costs. Consequently, Social Security benefits have lost 22% of their buying power since 2000..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. Matt Cartwright signed on to Rep. Peter DeFazio's No Loopholes in Social Security Taxes Act. The cosponsor total is now up to twenty-seven. If signed into law, Rep. DeFazio's bill would subject all income over 0,000 to the Social Security payroll tax. Currently, the payroll tax is capped at 3,700 and no income over that amount is taxed. H.R. 1029 would reportedly add another fifty years to the solvency of the Trust Fund in a responsible way, without reducing benefits for seniors..CMS plans to automatically enroll the seniors in participating states with an "opt-out" provision. But TSCL has concerns as to whether beneficiaries will be able to choose the best form of care and how they would be able to switch plans or return to traditional Medicare..A new analysis by The Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups, indicates that changes the government has already made in the late 1990s to how it calculates the CPI have resulted in cutting the Social Security benefits of today's seniors by about 7 percent since 2000. Social Security recipients, who retired with average monthly benefits of about 6 in 2000, lost 7 this year alone, and about ,293 in COLA growth over the past twelve years. According to the analysis, the CPI changes that became effective by 2000 will cut more than ,000 of Social Security income from individuals who retired with average benefits over a 25-year retirement. "Chaining the COLA would further deepen the loss of benefits," says Larry Hyland, Chairman of TSC.Rep. Charles Gonzalez introduced H.R. 456 on January 26, 201It has since been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means..In a recent Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill questioned medical and pharmaceutical industry leaders about the financial relationship between physicians and drug companies. Pharmaceutical companies currently spend billions of dollars annually 90 percent of their marketing program on gifts, lunches, drug samples, and sponsorships of education programs for doctors without any form of public disclosure, leading many to question whether economic incentives provided by the industry cloud physicians' judgment and put profits ahead of patients.
