Now, it has been reported that the top lawyer in the Department of Health and Human Services has warned in an internal memo that the President's plan to give seniors 0 discount cards to buy prescription drugs could violate election law..The Biden administration is treating the first weeks of the program as a dry run to test if the federal pharmacy program will work before scaling it up, according to one source familiar with planning discussions.."Protecting the integrity of the Social Security program for current and future retirees is critical to our members and supporters," Hyland said. "As such, TSCL salutes you for introducing an amendment to S. 744 that would prohibit unauthorized workers from receiving Social Security benefits based on work completed illegally, with stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers… we believe your amendment would improve the program's long-term solvency and prevent an unspecified and unnecessary strain on the Trust Fund.".Quite likely. Age 62 is simple to remember because it's the same for everyone. But figuring out your full retirement age is hard because it differs for every one. It must be looked up online, or you must call the Social Security Administration to confirm it. Only one-out-of three people even know their full retirement age. But your full retirement age, whether it's 66, 66 plus 4 months, or 67, and the amount you can expect at that age, still doesn't get you your maximum benefit! Only half of all retirees even know that waiting until age 70 to claim retirement benefits gets you the maximum amount that you qualify for..[1] Combined Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trust Funds February 2014 Baseline, Congressional Budget Office..Specifically, the WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual paying into the system from one job while receiving a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. Educators are just one example of folks especially hard hit when they take a summer job. The GPO significantly cuts by two-thirds the spousal benefits of federal, state and local employees in jobs not covered by Social Security such as police officers, firefighters, and educators..Finally, the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act gained one new cosponsor in Senator Claire McCaskill, who brings the new cosponsor total to three. If signed into law, S. 1600 would base the Social Security COLA on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. The bill would also ensure that high income earners pay their fair share of taxes into Social Security..Bringing Newly Hired State and Local Workers Into The Social Security System: Currently 96 percent of U.S. workers are covered by Social Security; most of the remaining four percent are covered by federal, state and local pension plans and do not contribute to Social Security. Bringing newly hired state and local workers into the system by 2021 would make Social Security more inclusive and increase its revenues. This proposal would close about eight percent of the program's 75-year shortfall..Automatic renewals are supposed to make this fall's Open Enrollment under the new health law run more smoothly for consumers like you. But analysts are warning to only do so as a last resort - especially if you qualified for a lower premium. The lower premiums are made possible through premium subsidies, which are actually an advance tax credit based on your income. According to analysts, health insurance exchange customers who like the convenience of automatically renewing are likely to receive outdated and inaccurate premium subsidy amounts that could result in big tax bills later.
