In the days ahead, many Senators will be holding town hall meetings in their home states. TSCL encourages its members and supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions about the BCRA, like the following two….About 44 percent of TSCL Senior Survey respondents last year said that their Social Security benefit was lower in 2011 after deduction for Medicare premium payments. Another TSCL survey found that 44 percent of respondents also said they spent at least 0 a month on Medicare premiums and other out-of-pocket costs in 201"With the average benefit at ,100, about 17 million seniors are spending one-third of their Social Security benefit on Medicare costs, " Hyland observes..With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Located just outside Washington, D.C., its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. Please visit or call for more information.."It's a barrage of contributions that accounts for roughly million in campaign giving, distributed via roughly 4,500 checks from the political action committees affiliated with the companies.."At the very least a plan is needed to prevent fraudsters from stealing critically needed benefits from legitimately disabled beneficiaries," Cates says. TSCL agrees with the Social Security Administration Inspector General that the best way to do this is to conduct full medical continuing disability reviews to ensure that people are still eligible to receive benefits. Yet In fiscal year 2013, the budget request was to conduct 650,000 reviews but given the actual funding received, the agency reported conducting only 429,000 such reviews. Consequently the Social Security Administration reports a backlog of 1.3 million overdue CDRs at the end of fiscal year 2013.[v] TSCL urges Congressional support to provide the resources needed to eliminate the CDR backlog and provide rigorous oversight from fraud..One important option to select is inflation protection. The cost of.According to the Congressional Research Service, for an age 65 retiree with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25%-two and one half times greater..By Representative Elijah E. Cummings,.On Wednesday, the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee held a hearing titled "Lacking a Leader: Challenges Facing the SSA after over Five Years of Acting Commissioners." The Social Security Administration has been without a Senate-confirmed commissioner for over five years, which means it has not had a leader with the legal authority to make long-term decisions for the future of the agency.
