News

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed at Wednesday's hearing that displaying the full Social Security number on Medicare cards puts seniors at risk for identity theft. However, the process of removing the numbers is costly and complex. Tony Trenkle, Director for the CMS Office of Information Services stated, "It's going to be a massive undertaking if we go down this road." He explained that the process would require a technology system update and massive education efforts for beneficiaries, providers, and business associates..The Senior Citizens League would like to remind you that both Houses of Congress have adjourned for the August recess. The Senate is expected to be back in session on September 6th, while the House of Representatives will return on September 7th..Usually during economic downturns many older workers are forced into retirement when they lose jobs. While the pandemic may have caused more to retire earlier than planned, deaths removed hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries from Social Security rolls. In fact, life expectancy plunged by a full year in the first half of 2020, from 78.8 years to 77.8 years, the biggest drop since World War II..New Poll By The Senior Citizens League: Majority Feel "No Budget, No Pay" Gets Congress Back On Track.CBO Scores BCRA, Leaders Postpone Vote.In a statement, Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League said this week: "This could be particularly problematic for older, low-income Americans who represent a disproportionate share of Medicaid spending … Capping and adjusting payments to states would take benefits away from millions of low-income families, including disabled and older Americans in nursing homes, all to pay for massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest U.S. households.".Premium subsidies are actually advance federal tax credits and available only for people buying their own insurance on the insurance exchanges. You qualify if your income is less than ,960 for individuals or ,040 for a family of two. Your "modified adjusted gross income" will be used to determine your income. That includes your household's adjusted gross income plus any tax-exempt Social Security, interest and foreign income you have. When you apply, the government will access your most recent tax return to confirm the income data that you report..The recent battle in Congress over lifting the debt limit contained mostly good news and some not so good news, for disabled and retired Americans. The legislation rolled back an unprecedented 52% spike in Medicare Part B premiums due to affect about 15.6 million Medicare recipients, and it prevented a 19% cut in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits due to occur later this year. But the legislation contained no Cost-of-Living Adjustment relief for 2016, and closed off one of the few claiming strategies that some Americans have to boost their Social Security payouts..Use call block technology. If you have a smart phone, you can block calls from unknown numbers. Some land line phones also have similar technology.