News

With people living longer, retiring too early means potentially leaving tens of thousands in retirement income behind. Who can afford to do that? If you haven't started benefits yet, beware of the anchor effect, and remember that age 70 is the age to get your maximum retirement benefit. Individual circumstances vary though. It's a good idea to get professional help if you can, to take your time to learn about your benefits, and to decide the best age for you to start benefits. This is an important decision. It pays to take your time. To learn more about the "anchor effect," read "What Was I Thinking?".Key Prescription Drug Bill Gains Support.Recently a journalist, familiar with my estimates of cost-of-living adjustments, contacted me for my thoughts on the topic. Did I think we were staring down rising inflation? I told him that I needed to see more data..Unless there is a breakthrough regarding a new coronavirus bill, the House is scheduled to return to business on Sept. 1That will leave 2 ½ weeks in September for it to pass the two remaining funding bills but that will probably depend on how negotiations for a new coronavirus bill as well as a CR go once they return..Sen. Enzi, one of the leading negotiators, said in a statement: "Congress is poised to approve a 10-year balanced budget for the first time since 2001, which represents an important step in confronting the nation's chronic overspending. This will help change the way we do business here in Washington to make the government live within its means just like hardworking families.".Just days remain before voters across the country will elect 435 lawmakers to the U.S. House, 34 to the U.S. Senate, and one new president to the White House. By now, most registered voters have a good idea who they will vote for on November 8th. But how much do you really know about the party positions? Before heading to the polls on election day, TSCL recommends taking one last look at the platforms that were adopted by the Democrats and the Republicans earlier this year. Here are the Social Security reform positions laid out by the two major political parties at their conventions back in July..Where Can We Find Help For Questions About Health Emergencies and Financing Nursing Homes?.Addressing prescription drug prices is also one of my top priorities as Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The Committee launched a comprehensive investigation of the prescription drug industry's pricing practices in January of this year, focusing on the drugs that are the costliest to Medicare. In January I convened the Committee's first hearing of the 116th Congress on this topic, inviting AARP's National Volunteer President to testify about the challenges seniors face in affording their drugs..I'll always have the backs of our seniors, and I will ensure you all have the help you need and to protect against those who seek to take advantage of you. We all know this is going to take a fight. I'm hopeful that, with the Senior Security Act, we will help create real and lasting change, and I will be here, fighting by your side, every step of the way.

Keeping Loved Ones Up To Date During Surgery

Firstly, the Senior Security Act will create a Senior Investor Taskforce at the SEC that will exclusively focus on how seniors are being targeted by fraudsters and those who seek to take financial advantage of them. This new Taskforce will identify challenges that senior investors encounter and will identify areas within the SEC or other organizations where senior investors would benefit from changes. The Senior Investor Taskforce will also coordinate with other offices within the Commission and the Elder Justice Coordinating Council. When appropriate, the Taskforce will consult state securities and law enforcement and state insurance regulators to ensure we're all doing as much as we can, at every level of government, to stop this..In a statement, Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League said this week: "This could be particularly problematic for older, low-income Americans who represent a disproportionate share of Medicaid spending … Capping and adjusting payments to states would take benefits away from millions of low-income families, including disabled and older Americans in nursing homes, all to pay for massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest U.S. households.".Social Security's finances depend largely on payroll taxes, tying the strength of Social Security to the strength of the U.S. economy. The U.S. unemployment rate was more than 13.3% through May. That was worse than the 2009 Great Recession, when the unemployment rate reached a peak of 10.6% in January 20With 20.5 million people out of work, combined with a higher number of new claims for benefits as older unemployed workers turn to Social Security, there will be a significant impact on the finances of the Social Security Trust Funds. The degree of the impact depends on how long it takes to get our economy safely up and running again. … Continued

Poll Finding Kaiser Health Tracking Poll Election 2008 August 2

I live on a fixed income of less than 0 dollars a month. I live in public housing for seniors, and during the pandemic, I had to rely on help from my children to eat every month. I was approved for 6 a month in food stamps. A blessing! However, when you live in public housing, and then get a cost-of-living adjustment, it affects your eligibility for public benefits. In my state, the formula they use took 30% of my COLA. Then because of the COLA your food stamps can be lowered. What's the point of getting a raise? Something should change about the formula. - A.R., IL..Split your pills if you can: You can further cut your costs in half by splitting your pills in half. Ask your doctor if pill splitting would work with your prescriptions. Your doctor would need to write a prescription with a dosage twice as high as you normally take. You can readily find inexpensive pill splitters at your pharmacy. If you do split your pills, make sure your family and emergency caregivers also know! Carefully label all prescriptions that require splitting..As we've said, lowering drug prices is a top goal of Democrats, including President Biden. Republicans have indicated they will not support that effort so the Democrats have to pass it with just their own members. With only the slimmest of majorities in both the House and Senate, the Democratic leadership has to try and keep all of their members on board. … Continued