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"Under current Social Security law, that is all that's required to later claim benefits," Hyland explains. "To file a claim, individuals must have a work-authorized Social Security number, and would become vested for benefits with ten years of earnings," Hyland says. "The oldest of those who are eligible for the deferred action could feasibly have worked illegally long enough to already be vested for Social Security - even for disability benefits," Hyland notes. This would add to the program's solvency problems since the Congressional Budget Office and Social Security Trustees have estimated that the Social Security disability trust fund will be fully insolvent by 2016..The more you learn about the COLA, however, the more the anemic annual boosts of our past decade raise questions. The very first COLA ever paid was 77%. No, you read that right, this is not a typo. It became payable in 1950, one year before I was born, and a full ten years after Ida May Fuller received the nation's very first Social Security benefit check for .54 - the equivalent of 0.90 today..A major move is underway to reduce government spending on Social Security by cutting the growth rate in annual cost-of-living adjustments. What would it cost you? Here are answers to some of your most frequently asked questions:.Non-citizens who are assigned a Social Security number on or after January 1, 2004, must receive legal work authorization at some point in order to file a claim for Social Security benefits. If they never get legal work authorization, then they can't legally file a claim. If at some point they do receive work authorization, as they would under immigration amnesty proposals, then all of their earnings would be used to determine entitlement for Social Security, even for jobs worked while illegal. If the worker kept records and could prove the earnings were theirs, the earnings would be re-instated to their authorized Social Security number and used to determine entitlement to benefits..The difference in drug prices between the lowest and highest costing plans, can be in the hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. For brand name and specialty drugs, the most frequent reason that the drug costs so much more in the highest costing plan is lack of coverage. The drug is not listed on the high cost plan's formulary. For example, the lowest cost plan for Sovaldi, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C, charges ,600 in co-insurance. The highest cost drug plan charges 0,800, the full cost of the drug, because Sovaldi is not on the plan's formulary.."The Earnings Suspense File isn't getting enough attention from Congress," says TSCL Chairman, Ed Cates. "Wages are an important indicator of the extra costs associated with immigration reform," Cates notes. Wage records are used to determine both the number of quarters worked to qualify for Social Security, and to calculate the initial benefit. The wages represented by the Earnings Suspense File would potentially form a portion of Social Security benefits for undocumented workers who later gain legal status..Recently the TREA Senior Citizens League Board of Trustees traveled to Capitol Hill for a week filled with meetings. The Board was able to meet with 7 Congressional offices, including one drop-by visit with Chief of Staff Kevin Kimble and Legislative Assistant Yadira Castellanos in the office of Rep. Charles Gonzalez. Among the topics discussed were Notch Reform, anti-totalization measures, prescription drug costs, and the consumer price index for elderly..As negotiations continue over the coming days, TSCL will continue to monitor them closely and encourage lawmakers to avoid another shutdown on December 11th, since it would likely have a negative impact on Social Security and Medicare benefits. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website..I will be 66 in April and still work at a small company. I get my healthcare through a Medicare Advantage plan. I've learned I will need to have surgery and expect to have extensive out-of-pocket health care expenses this year. In order to cover my healthcare costs, would I do better by taking money from my retirement savings in order to delay starting Social Security or should I start Social Security retirement benefits now to reduce what I need to take from savings?