Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee Directory Of Webinars For Legislative StaffRx for Medicare's Doctors' Pay Formula.A key unresolved issue is whether undocumented immigrants, who illegally worked using invalid or fake Social Security numbers, would be able to claim work credits towards benefits for those earnings. Work authorization, or "green cards," not citizenship, is the key requirement for noncitizens to become entitled to Social Security benefits and Medicare when other program qualifications are met. According to the Congressional Budget Office, even "limited" immigration changes that provide only permission to work in this country, or temporary work authorization, could potentially add millions of new claims in the future. Under current law Social Security benefits are based on all earnings, including earnings from jobs worked without authorization under invalid and fraudulent documents..Alexandria, VMore than 90 percent of older Americans are likely to be making a secret Christmas wish for the New Year, says The Senior Citizens League. "That's to make ends meet," says TSCL Chairman, Ed Cates. A national survey conducted by TSCL earlier this year found that 98 percent of Social Security recipients participating reported the annual cost-of-living adjustment had increased their Social Security benefits by less than a month in 2014, but 92 percent said their monthly expenses had increased by more than "That disparity between COLAs and rising costs is the 'Grinch that's stealing Christmas' for millions of older Americans this year," Cates says. … Continued
Patient Education At The HospitalThe House-Senate Conference Committee met multiple times this week for public negotiations, but little progress seems to have been made. The group of twenty must come to an agreement before the end of the month in order to: continue unemployment payments, block a Medicare doctor payment cut, and extend the Social Security payroll tax cut..Obviously, action on those legislative matters are of great concern to TSCL and to seniors in general..These actions are what families do, but they are not without long term costs to retirement security. Some of you have reported going into debt, most often due to high medical costs. In fact, a Gallup poll in July of 2020 found that 15% of the adults contacted reported at least one person in their household had medical debt that will not be repaid either in full or in part within the next 12 months. … Continued
