In a letter to Congressman Davis, Art Cooper Chairman of TSCL's Board of Trustees wrote: "According to a recent study completed by TSCL, Social Security beneficiaries have lost over 20 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. Those who are subjected to the WEP and the GPO have undoubtedly fallen even further behind. It is now more important than ever for Congress to address the inequities that have been created by the WEP and the GPO, and TSCL believes the Social Security Fairness Act is a fair and responsible solution.".Government Shutdown Continues for Fifth Week.Uncertain: 17%.Members of Congress may lose an election but unlike other Americans, they never lose their retirement and health benefits. A Member of the House or Senate who retires at age 60 after just 12 years in office will receive a Congressional pension of ,000 a year and lifetime benefits that could total more than 0,000. That doesn't even include 401 benefits or their Social Security benefits -..The other good news for seniors last week was the apparent victory of TSCL and other groups to stop the payroll tax cut. President Trump has been demanding the cut for months, and he had stated that he would not sign any new pandemic relief legislation if the payroll tax cut were not included..This week, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, which was recently introduced by Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard with the support of seventy-eight original House cosponsors..According to Medicare, no single organization was behind the 35 people charged in the genetic testing scam, which included 9 doctors. All of this comes at a time when Medicare and Medicare Advantage are expanding the use of telemedicine, which allows doctors and nurses to connect with patients over the internet or by cell phone for consultations and to check symptoms remotely..Using this approach would put low to middle benefit recipients on more equal footing. The draw- back however, is that people with higher benefits would experience a benefit cut. They would not receive a COLA based on the benefit that they actually receive, and the dollar amount would be lower than what they would have received under current law. While that loss would be relatively small at first, it would compound and rapidly grow deeper over time. It would tend to lower the total amount of income that retirees with higher benefits could expect to receive from Social Security. This sort of proposed change to the COLA would quite likely encounter fierce push back, particularly from those affected, and even from middle-income people who delayed their retirement perhaps by as much as 4 years or more to allow their benefit to grow to its maximum..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 citizens' action organization.
