State Legislatures Magazine Staff Snapshots Andrew Carpenter Magazine2021"That simply isn't the case," says TSCL Chairman, Larry Hyland. TSCL conducts an annual survey of typical senior costs. "That data indicates that Social Security benefits have lost more than one-third of their buying power since 2000," Hyland says. "Changes that cut COLAs even further would make it that much harder for seniors and disabled beneficiaries to afford rising Medicare, energy, and other costs," he notes..This week, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial health of the programs. In addition, Senator David Vitter's Notch Fairness Act and Representative Buck McKeon's Social Security Fairness Act each gained one new cosponsor..Representative John Garamendi introduced H.R. 1553 on March 6, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. … Continued
Quiz Health Issues And The Election QuizDuring debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington's Birthday be renamed Presidents' Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln ; although Lincoln's birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. After the bill went into effect in 1971, however, Presidents' Day became the commonly accepted name, due in part to retailers' use of that name to promote sales and the holiday's proximity to Lincoln's birthday. Presidents' Day is usually marked by public ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country..Now it seems that the cancelled policies and the number of people affected by them are beginning to have an effect on the Administration and Members of Congress concerned about the November elections. The Obama Administration recently announced that individual health policies, that were supposed to end in 2014 because they aren't compliant, may remain in force another two years, if states allows it..It turns out than among seniors who are not vaccinated, the biggest problem may be access to the vaccine as opposed to opposition to getting the shot. … Continued