If adopted, H.R. 860 would strengthen and reform the Social Security program by providing beneficiaries with a 2 percent benefit boost, basing cost-of-living adjustments on the CPI-E, creating a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line, and cutting taxes for beneficiaries. It would also apply the payroll tax to income over 0,000 and gradually increase the payroll tax rate to 7.4 percent..Grassroots lobbying is perhaps the most effective way to let YOUR Representative and Senators know your opinion. Whether you are calling into a local or Washington, D.C. office; sending a letter or e-mail; signing a petition, or making a personal visit, Members of Congress are the most receptive and open to suggestions from their constituents..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..As with Social Security and Medicare long-term viability, reducing the high costs of drugs is also at the top on TSCL's agenda this year. These are complicated problems but Congress must find a way to deal with them and TSCL will be fighting for you as these debates continue..This week, TSCL announced its support for the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act, which was introduced by Congressman Alan Grayson as a companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren's S. 2251..A common debate is re-emerging this year over Social Security's "deficit, " as the federal borrowing limit looms. The debt limit, which was suspended since late 2015, was re-instated on March 16th. That debt limit sets the money the Treasury can borrow to pay for federal obligations, including money owed to the Social Security Trust Fund..Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it was my understanding that the 3.8% tax on net investment income was intended to fund the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, in much the same way a portion of the taxes on Social Security benefits are earmarked for the Part A Trust Fund..Refinance and renovate. If you find your current mortgage payment is too high, refinancing to get either a lower monthly payment or to take cash out may be an option. Before you refinance, have a long–term repayment plan, a budget, and you may want to discuss your needs with an independent financial advisor. If you are refinancing to renovate an older home, think long and hard about how much longer you plan to stay in your home, and how well your current housing will serve you as your health changes. Get bids from contractors, and be sure to include costs for new appliances, carpets, and fixtures. Will you have sufficient income and savings to cover a mortgage payment and still have money for repairs and maintenance ten or twenty years from now? Can you recover your renovation investment if you have to move and sell sooner than you planned? Take time to shop and carefully compare terms on loans - don't be hurried into making a decision. Loan officers always push you to "lock in a rate." Always ask for a "good faith" estimate and an estimate of the closing costs..Under Medicare Part D, the government does not negotiate prices like it does for doctors' or hospital fees. Drug prices are established by the private insurers who run Part D drug plans. Those prices are based on what the plans negotiate with drug manufacturers and what drug plans want to make on the drugs in order to operate at a profit. Under current law, however, even when drug plans negotiate a rebate, the law does not require that plans pass the savings along to consumers.
