News

need to re-evaluate how your money is invested and your need for dividend or.chances are we may have a chronic health condition that requires regular.This week, the fall recess continued for lawmakers in the House and Senate who are campaigning for the upcoming elections..During these meetings, the following issues were discussed: Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, Social Security Notch fairness, Social Security Totalization agreement reform, and repeal of both the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. Support was expressed for many of these key issues, and TSCL looks forward to working with these offices in the future..TSCL consists of vocally active senior citizens concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. TSCL was first established as a special project of The Retired Enlisted Association. On January 1, 1995, TSCL became an independent 501[c][4] citizens' action organization..Low inflation is often blamed on the economic recession and slow recovery, but there are other factors. Unbeknownst to most of the public, the federal government has quietly made numerous changes to the methodology used for the nation's inflation measurement - the consumer price index. Politicians claim the changes make the CPI more accurate, but virtually all of the changes since the 1980's have lowered the measured rate of inflation and reduced the growth of Social Security benefits..But the new policy could backfire with senior voters. According to a recent TSCL poll seventy-seven percent said they do not agree with the new "deferred action" immigration policy..This issue gets considerable attention from Members of Congress and the media. These findings are a huge red flag that the standard of living of older Americans is eroding, and this is true not only for lower income households, but for all retirees, because healthcare costs are growing much more rapidly than COLAs. To provide greater retirement security, Social Security benefits need to be boosted, and Medicare cost increases need to be slowed in a way that saves billions without cutting benefits. The Senior Citizens League is supporting the Emergency Social Security COLA for 2021 Act, which would replace the 1.3 percent COLA with a more adequate 3 percent COLA in 202How were you affected by healthcare costs in 2020? Please take our TSCL's 2021 Senior Survey..don't start feeling better.

Thrive Make Your Health Care Wishes Known

The Senior Citizens League agrees that these faults in the program are unacceptable and unsustainable. With over ten thousand Baby Boomers becoming eligible for Social Security benefits every day, Congress must act to ensure that SSA is fully funded and equipped with the leadership that is needed to serve our older and disabled Americans. As Ranking Member John Larson said at Wednesday's hearing, "What is Social Security if not the full faith and credit of the United States government?".On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced its 4-4 decision on a challenge to President Obama's immigration orders, which were released back in 2014 with the intent of halting the deportations of nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants. The split decision means the lower court's ruling is left in place, and the executive orders will not take effect.."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. … Continued

Blog Leaders Gather In Washington

Recently we asked for your stories and comments on how rising prescription drug costs impact you. The following story illustrates new administrative efforts by Medicare to "educate" beneficiaries about their options for less expensive prescription meds, by sending out letters listing lower cost medications. The question we need to ask our lawmakers is why is this necessary? Does the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services believe we are impoverishing ourselves by using more expensive drugs if a less expensive alternative was effective, to begin with? Unfortunately, sometimes the older, less expensive drugs don't work as well, and with metastatic cancer drugs, quality of life can be at stake. Our sincere thank you to Janice S. a retiree living in Illinois, for sharing the following..Several lawmakers at Wednesday's hearing also asked Congressman Price whether he supports legislation like the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would allow HHS to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Doing so would save the Medicare program billions of dollars annually and would reduce drug costs for older Americans. TSCL was disappointed that Congressman Price refused to answer these inquiries directly, instead expressing his commitment to ensuring that "drug pricing is reasonable.".Gradually Raising the Payroll Tax Cap: The payroll tax cap has not kept pace with changing income patterns over the past few decades, so it makes sense to adjust the maximum taxable wages to realign them with the originally intended level. Gradually raising the cap to cover 90 percent of the nation's taxable earnings by 2050 would allow it to once again represent the same percentage of that figure that it did as recently as the early 1980s. … Continued