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Borrowing money to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits would not be possible unless that option could win the support of three-fifths of both the House and Senate..Under the proposal by Congressman Paul Ryan, now Chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Alice Rivlin, a monetary and fiscal policy expert, Medicare would be changed from a system that pays per procedure, to one that would provide a fixed amount of money or voucher, to private health plans to provide coverage..You may possibly qualify for a divorced spouse Social Security survivor's benefit that would be the same as what a widow would get, but you have a number of options that you need to carefully think through. If you receive survivors benefits as a divorced spouse now, you can switch to your own retirement benefit later if it is higher than your widow's benefit..House Subcommittee Holds "Doc Fix" Hearing.I set the glasses back down on the window ledge, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote..Like the enormous sword of Greek legend hanging by a single hair above the head of Damocles, the U.S. Totalization agreement with Mexico continues to remain hanging over our nation's Social Security program. The agreement has not yet undergone final approval, but its fate has far-reaching implications for the benefits of 53 million U.S. Social Security beneficiaries..This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill and two committees held hearings to discuss the opioid epidemic. In addition, The Senior Citizens League saw support grow for several key bills..During the wide-ranging question and answer session TSCL asked the Senator if legislation to lower prescription drug prices and end surprise medical billing would be passed this year. The Senator's answer was disappointing but also not surprising..Medicaid, the state and federal program that provides healthcare for low-income Americans, is undergoing a massive expansion with the start of the Affordable Care Act. The fairness of that expansion for seniors is drawing closer scrutiny from TSCL.

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There were reports recently that Republicans in the House of Representatives are insisting that stemming the growth of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid costs is necessary. Bloomberg news reported on a House Budget Committee hearing about a new Congressional Budget Office report that projects trillion-dollar deficits for the next decade..That is only one of the issues involved with high drug prices, and the drug companies aren't the only issue..The 2018 findings represent a substantial 4 percent loss in Social Security benefit buying power from January 2017 through January 201The loss deepened from 30 percent in 2017 to 34 percent in 201Of the thirty-nine costs analyzed in the study, twenty-six exceeded the percentage increase in the COLA over the 2000 to 2018 period. … Continued

Health Costs Press Release Two Thirds Of The Public Say The Us Should Play A Major Role In Distributing Covid 19 Vaccines Globally But Not Most Republicans

On Thursday, the Ways and Means Committee held a long overdue hearing on the Social Security 2100 Act. The bill was introduced by Congressman John Larson in January of this year. A companion bill was introduced in the Senator by Senator Richard Blumenthal. If adopted these bills would strengthen and reform Social Security by providing beneficiaries with a 2 percent benefit increase, would base the cost-of-living on the CPI-E, create a new minimum benefit set 125 percent of the poverty line and cut taxes for beneficiaries. Increase costs to the program would be paid for my applying the payroll tax to income over 400,000 and gradually increase the payroll tax rate to 7.4 percent..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.Which costs are rising fastest for you? Take TSCL's annual Senior Survey, visit. … Continued